Naruto: Blessed by the Goddess'
by Shadowghost368
Summary: On the night that the Nine Tailed Fox was sealed away, a stranger from a distant land came to the leaf with a mission from his king and sworn to secrecy. That night, a butterfly flapped it's wings and now a storm is brewing.
1. Chapter 1

If you think I own Naruto, then I want some of what you're smoking. But seriously, I own nothing except for one OC. Any similarity to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental and the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Luckily there were no innocent here, so no names had to be changed.

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Chapter 1

The night was cool, but seemed colder to the man sitting behind the desk. The full moon illuminated the room with a cold light, making everything seem stark and frozen, like time itself had just simply stopped. To the old man, it felt like more than just time itself had stopped, more like the whole world had almost come to an end. From outside the window drifted the mixed sounds of both complete and utter joy and dark, crushing despair.

For the man behind the desk, known to most simply as "The Third", he felt a constant mix of both. Joy and happiness that the people he cared about, the ones he had sworn to protect so long ago had been saved. Despair and sorrow for the ones who had been lost that night, the ones he had failed to protect from possibly the most terrifying evil to ever roam the world. He also felt a certain amount of sadness for one other, one whom had not perished that night, but who he had failed possibly even more than all the others.

The desk was filled with paperwork, some filled out, some waiting for the signature of the man who was once again doing something he thought he had left long ago. But out of all of it, only one sheaf of papers on the desk held his attention. It was a fairly standard form, nothing at all interesting about it, other than the fact that it was a copy. The mans eyes felt drawn to it however, seemingly unable to stop from reading the first couple lines over and over again.

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Date of Birth: October 10th, 143 KY (Konoha Year)

Age at time of Admittance: 3 hours

Parents Names: Unknown

That last line hurt the most. He had wanted to fill out that part truthfully most of all, but he knew that if word had gotten out, which it most certainly would have, the child would have been dead within the week, maybe even less if the Iwa ninjas ran really fast. So, to protect a child not even a day old, he had been forced to steal the only thing the child had left in the world from him, his heritage. He hoped that someday Naruto would be able to forgive him, but he didn't honestly expect it.

A soft knock at the door roused him from his 12th re-reading of the orphanage admittance forms.

"Sir, the ambassador from across the sea is here to see you now," said his secretary, her own eyes red from crying, but struggling valiantly to hold her grief at bay.

"I understand, thank you very much. Once you see him in, why don't you take the rest of the night off?"

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

The Third flinched a little, hearing that title again after what seemed like an eternity. He had honestly never expected to hear it again, in fact, he had actually **hoped **to never hear it again. Letting out a sigh, he stands up, straightening out his robes a little to make himself presentable to the new ambassador.

"Thank you for seeing me at such a late hour, Lord Sarutobi," said the man that came through the door. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't short either, though his long coat probably gave the impression of being shorter than he really was. His dark hair was unkempt and reached his shoulders, his eyes almost hidden behind a few strands that fell across his face. His movement was that of a warrior; strong, confident, but cautious, moving carefully and always in balance, never extending himself too far in case he needed to make a quick move. The sword strapped to his back also indicated that he was probably a warrior of some kind and from the lean, tight chest muscles visible under his tight black shirt, he knew how to use it and probably had on many occasions. His pants were a simple black, with fairly simple black leather boots on his feet, worn by the road and many years of use, but still seemingly comfortable and sturdy. All in all, the man looked rather dark and mysterious and the former ex-Hokage could tell that though he was relaxed now, this man could switch over to deadly in a heartbeat.

"It's no problem at all, with the way things are right now, I need something to distract me from the current situation, at least for a little while."

A small smiled graced the mans face, his eyes lighting up a little as they became somewhat less cold in that moment. "Well then, perhaps I can find a reason to extend my stay and give you an excuse to further put aside your paperwork."

As strung out as the Hokage was, he couldn't resist a small chuckle at that statement. However, the other mans face fell slightly as he recalled exactly what all that paperwork was about. "I understand if you wish to meet at another time. I mostly came just to let you know I'd arrived; we can save the more substantial issues until later."

The Third simply nodded his head. "I don't really feel up to going into all the technical difficulties right now; I will settle for an overview of what your country has to say to mine. People from beyond the sea have been very rare for quite a long time, it was a surprise to many when your exploratory team wandered into the village."

"Yes, we've been dealing with some…internal issues for quite a while. Now that the threat has finally passed, my King feels it is time to announce ourselves to the world, make alliances, engage in trade, do all the things that we should have done before, but were unable to do. Part of this is to learn as much about your land as possible, while respecting your own security of course, while at the same time allowing you to learn about us through me and any other ambassadors that may be sent out."

The leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves thought about it for a few moments before reaching a decision. "Very well, I believe this alliance will help strengthen our village and at the time, we are in desperate need of strength. I cannot afford to refuse." He stood to shake the mans hand. "Welcome to Konoha, Mr. Ambassador."

The man took the offered hand, but winced slightly at the name. "He he, please, call me Konpaku, it's the closest translation I could find for my name back home."

"Please, allow me to show you to a hotel where you can stay until the embassy district is rebuilt," said the Hokage, leading Konpaku to the door. It was a valid excuse to get out of doing more paperwork and that was enough reason for him to do it instead of having another ninja do the work.

"By the way, Lord Sarutobi, I feel I should let you know that my King has given me permission to offer you my services while I'm staying here. Should you need me for anything, don't hesitate to call."

The Hokage nodded for a moment before the gravity of what had just been offered settled in. He knew from the exploratory team that the warriors of the land across the sea were not to be taken lightly, and to have a high ranking ambassador on his side, one essentially untouchable by his own people, the implications were simply staggering. But could he trust this man? The thought had just crossed through his mind when he realized that he **had** to trust him, the village was too weakened by tonight to allow him to refuse any help. At the same time though, he had to be careful. It wouldn't do to have an ambassador get killed on some assignment; that would cause nothing but trouble. So tasks outside the village were out of the question, but tasks inside the village, using someone who's own position made him essentially untouchable politically, that was an offer too good to pass up.

"I think I may take you up on that, Konpaku," he said with a small smile on his face.

…...

Meanwhile, across the village, the orphanage was overflowing with new residents. The events of the night had left more than a few poor souls homeless, with no one to turn to and no where to go. One of these poor souls, a baby boy not even a day old, was crying quite loudly, almost managing to drown out the other babies in the same room. A nurse was wandering from bed to bed, checking each baby and seeing if diapers needed to be changed. When she came to the bed with the small, blond haired baby in it, she recoiled in shock, a look of fear crossing her face for a moment before she waved over the headmistress of the orphanage.

"What is that…that….**thing** doing in here?" she asked, the venom in her voice almost palatable enough to kill.

The headmistress scowled at the boy for a moment as well before answering the question. "The Third brought him in personally, otherwise I would never have allowed it."

For a brief moment, the nurse looked horrified at the very thought that the Third, the legendary ninja, the Professor, would actually leave such a terrifying evil among helpless children. "What was he thinking? Who knows what he may do to the other children. I mean, look at him, you can already see that the demon has begun to affect him," she whispered loudly, pointing at the three marks across each of the child's cheeks, faint lines that almost seemed to be whiskers, just barely visible upon the child's fair skin.

The headmistress thought about it for a moment before a realization seemed to dawn upon her. "The Third only said that we need to take care of him, he didn't say how or even what exactly we should be doing. I say we should make sure to keep him separate from the other children, for their protection."

The nurse nodded before roughly picking the still crying baby from the crib. Grabbing a few blankets and an old, worn mattress, she quickly walked over to another part of the orphanage, where she pulled down a set of retractable stairs and carried the child up into the attic. Finding an old pile of torn and worn out clothing, she quickly spread the mattress there, then placed the boy there, tossing the blankets on top of him with little regard to whether he was covered or not. She then almost fled from the attic, closing the stairs behind her and making a mental note to have the headmistress put a sliding bolt on the door just in case.

"There, now we don't have to worry about that monster hurting any of the other children," said the headmistress, smiling with a sort of perverse satisfaction. She turned back to her duties and left the nurse to go back to hers, both of them tuning out the sound of crying that still came from the attic.

…...

Konpaku looked around the hotel room for a moment before shedding both his sword and his coat and draping it across the only chair in the room. It wasn't a palace, but it was livable enough and after 2 months on a ship and three weeks on the road, it was nice to have a bed that couldn't be folded up into a package he could carry on his back. His other luggage had already been delivered to the room and he paused for a moment to check that everything was there before slipping a hand to his belt. The two daggers that hung off it were quickly thrown on top of the coat. He kicked off his shoes and his pants before deciding that was enough for now and collapsing onto the bed without even pulling back the covers. He was glad this hotel catered to foreigners as the bed was something he was more used to rather than a traditional bed of the region, which he had heard was actually not much more than a mat on the floor.

He rolled over and looked at the ceiling, trying to force his mind to rest, but the thoughts just kept coming. He was further away from home than he had ever been before, carrying something he had honestly never thought he would ever see, much less have. A quick glance at the back of his right hand told him it was safe, but he wondered for a moment if he should have told the Hokage about it. But the whole point of this mission rested on secrecy and besides, if he told the Hokage exactly what he was carrying and what it could do, there was the possibility, however slim, that he might be killed so they could obtain it. That kind of power in the wrong hands was the very reason he had been sent far away from his homeland. It was his job to make sure that the full power of this artifact, this relic of an ancient age was never used again. It had already caused more trouble that it was worth in his country and from what he saw on the way into the village, this land had enough troubles of it's own.

Letting out a deep sigh, Konpaku rolled onto his side and tried his best to fall asleep. He wasn't exactly sure how long it would be before he was called back to the Hokage's office, but he wanted to make sure he was well rested. It wouldn't do to let something slip just because he was tired. As he drifted off to sleep, the back of his right hand seemed to pulse for a brief moment before it settled down and Konpaku settled into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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Yes, short first chapter, I know. I have a few chapters already done. so depending on the feedback and a few other factors, I'll probably have some more up pretty soon. This is the first fan fic I've ever published, so I need ADVICE, not trolling. Advice will be read and appreciated, hate messages or unproductive responses will be shredded with wind jutsu and then burned with fire jutsu.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, I would like to make a note that I don't own Naruto in any way, shape or form. Only the OC known as Konpaku.

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Chapter 2

7 years later

The sun was shinning down upon the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The breeze was warm, the scent of fresh flowers was in the air and the overall atmosphere was one of blissful tranquility. At least, that's how it was for most people, with one notable exception.

"Get back here, you demon! I'll teach you to steal from my cart!" shouted a rather upset man holding a large knife, chasing after a boy wearing nothing but rags, carrying a melon under one arm. The boys eyes were bright blue, but currently dimmed a little by the fear that was overwhelming him, his blond hair was whipped about by the wind as he ran for all he was worth. He could understand why the man was so angry, but he wasn't sure what else he could have done. He had been kicked out of the orphanage three days ago and hadn't had a decent meal since then, not that his meals at the orphanage had been anything special to begin with. Usually bread with some water, every once in a while a small piece of burned or rotten meat was thrown in, but aside from that, nothing. It was amazing that the boy had enough energy to run as fast as he was, but this was one of those cases where desperation was a bigger factor than exhaustion.

The boy ducked around a corner, making a break for the alley he had been sleeping in for the last three days. He hoped that once he got there, he could hide in the boxes that he used for a bed, losing his pursuer and thereby ending this torture. But because he wasn't watching where he was going, he instead ran right into someone and went sprawling across the ground, his precious melon rolling down the street, back towards the man chasing him.

"Are you okay?" asked the man he had run into. The boy didn't know how to respond for a moment; no one had ever asked how he was. While he was trying to figure out what to say, a strong hand helped lift him to his feet and the man knelt in front of him, dusting off the poor boy who was by this point shell shocked that someone would actually show him this much attention without hurting him. "There we go, no harm done it seems."

The boy didn't get a chance to answer before the cart owner came around the corner, waving his knife in the air and screaming curses at the 'demon' that he was chasing. "Aha, there you are you little punk. I'm going to make you pay for stealing from me."

This caught the mans attention and he looked up at the cart owner. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he could see the hate and the bloodlust in the mans eyes and he knew that whatever punishment he had in mind, it was far to harsh to fit the crime. For a moment, he considered physically intervening, but he put that thought aside; he didn't want to hurt this man, he just wanted to protect the boy. He quickly grabbed the boys arm, pulling him close to his body, and with a quick thought and a surge from the back of his right hand, both the boy and the man seemed to vanish right under the eyes of the astonished melon salesman.

The boy wasn't sure what was going on. One moment the cart owner was coming at him, the next he couldn't seem to find him. He looked at the man wearing the long black coat and started to ask a question, but the man simply placed a finger against his lips, motioning for the boy to stay quiet for the moment. After a few minutes of wandering around, the cart owner seemed to give up and he stalked off, taking his melon back with him, though later he would throw it away because it had been contaminated by the 'demon boy'.

The man in the black coat smiled softly before standing and motioning the boy to come with him. He lead the boy through the streets, sticking to the alleys and side streets, moving like a phantom across town until he reached an area of town that was almost devoid of people. Walking up to a rather large building, he opened the door and motioned for the boy to follow him inside before releasing the technique and closing the door behind them.

"Well, that was interesting, wouldn't you say?" asked the man, looking at the boy with a critical eye. He could see that the boys clothes were barely hanging on, his body was thin and pale, like he hadn't gotten outside a lot. His cheeks sagged and his hair was thin, both signs of extensive malnutrition. Worst of all, the look in the boys eyes was one of fear and mistrust, not just of the man, but of everything. Even now the man could tell that the boy was already looking for an escape route, just in case he needed to run. He had the look of a scared, cornered animal and it was a sad thing to see in such a young boy.

"No need to worry boy, I'm not going to eat you or anything. Besides, if I wanted you harmed, I could have left you to that rather angry man back there."

The boy seemed to consider it for a moment, but still didn't answer. The man was starting to wonder if he even knew how to talk as he obviously didn't have a lot of social interaction.

"Well, I guess maybe I should start by introducing myself then. My name is Konpaku and I'm the ambassador from Hyrule. What's your name?"

The young boy still looked a little shell shocked from the recent incident and didn't answer. Konpaku sighed and decided that he would try one last time before he took the boy to the Hokage and let him deal with the situation.

"Look, it'll be hard for us to be friends if you don't tell me your name."

Konpaku had no idea that the reaction he would get from that would be so strong. The moment he said the word 'friends' the boys eyes lit up, the fear and mistrust being pushed away by another emotion, hope. "You…you want to be my friend?"

A smile crossed Konpaku's face; it seemed that the boy could talk after all. "Yeah, I mean, why not? I'd definitely like to be friends with you. So, what's your name?"

"My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

Konpaku smiled a little wider before holding his hand out to the boy. "Well then, it's good to meet you, Naruto."

Naruto looked the hand over a bit before taking it, like he was trying to avoid any hidden tricks or traps. But eventually he seemed satisfied and took the hand, shaking it softly. Konpaku kept the smile on his face, but he could feel how thin the boys fingers were and how limp his grip was. He could also feel that the boys wrist was extremely thin, too thin to be healthy. "Well then Naruto, now that we're friends, would you like to have dinner with me so we can get to know each other better?"

Just at that point, the boys stomach growled loudly, as though the very mention of dinner was enough to whet his appetite. Konpaku smiled wider at that and chuckled softly before he lifted the boy onto his shoulders. "Well, I'll take that as a yes. What do you want to eat? There's a good sushi place not far from here, or there's a place that does wonderful rice balls, or we could go to the dango shop that Anko showed me."

The poor boys eyes went wide for a moment. "Umm, Konpaku-san, what's all that stuff anyway? Is it food?"

Konpaku froze for a moment, not quite believing what he was hearing. "Naruto, what do you usually eat?"

"Well, I usually get bread and water, but sometimes I get some meat too."

Konpaku sighed for a moment, glad that Naruto was on his back and couldn't see the look on his face. After a few seconds of composing himself, he smiled and looked back at Naruto. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to pick then. There's this great little shop where they sell some really great food. In fact, it was the first thing I tried when I came to this village."

"What's that, Konpaku-san?"

"It's this really tasty noodle soup called ramen, I'm sure you'll like it. It even comes in lots of different flavors, so you can see what you like the best."

Naruto seemed rather excited about the idea, so Konpaku started off, adjusting the boy on his shoulders so that he didn't bump into the sword still strapped to his back. After about twenty minutes of walking, they approached a small stand with several cloth curtains hanging from the front. The lamp out in front of the establishment read 'Ichiraku Ramen'.

Naruto looked up at the stand before sliding off his back, almost hiding behind Konpaku's back while he peeked at it. He suddenly found himself being lifted up and placed on a stool in front of the long bar. Konpaku sat next to him and smiled at the young girl, probably 10 or so, who was manning the counter.

"Konpaku, good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Ayame, it's been too long since my last visit," said Konpaku, smiling at the young girl. She was outgoing and friendly, pretty much the perfect waitress and since she was the daughter of the man who owned the stand, it wasn't uncommon to see her here.

"And who's this little cutie?" asked Ayame, looking over the counter at Naruto. He seemed a little shy at first, but her smile and warm personality seemed to be winning him over quite quickly.

"Ah, this is Naruto Uzumaki. We quite literally ran into each other in the street and we came here to get to know each other better. I'll be covering his bill too, so give him anything he asks for."

"Awww, that's so cute. So what will you be having, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the menu for a few seconds before looking at Konpaku with a slight question on his face. "Ah, he's never had ramen before, Ayame, so let's start him off with a bowl of chicken ramen." He smiled at Naruto, giving him a wink. "That's my personal favorite, so lets start there and see what you like."

Ayame giggled a little and wrote down both orders before ringing a bell next to the back room door. "Two orders of chicken ramen, daddy."

From the back room came a slightly older man, looking to be about his mid to late thirties, wearing a chefs apron. He smiled automatically at Konpaku and then looked for a second at Naruto. Konpaku was watching carefully, though he didn't show it, and though Teuchi's smile changed, it changed from one of regular joy to a sort of sad happiness.

"Teuchi, it's been too long since I've come to see you," said Konpaku, drawing the older Ramen chefs attention to him. He gave Teuchi a look that was seen only by the two adults and the implications were rather clear between the two of them. Konpaku was letting Teuchi know that if he had a problem with the boy, he would talk to Konpaku about it and not say anything right now. Teuchi just smiled and sent his own look back, one that said he had no problem with the boy, but there was still some form of recognition in his eyes and Konpaku made a mental note to ask about it later.

"Konpaku, you foolish gajin, finally got tired of eating your own food, huh? Decided to come crawling back to my shop," said Teuchi with a hearty laugh that was matched by Konpaku at the sound of his nickname.

"Hey now, no need to put down a good Hylian bass stew, though I'm sure you could make it much better than I ever could."

Teuchi laughed again, throwing his head back and waving a ladle around in the air. "Well, then you'll just have to let me come over some time for dinner and show me the recipe. Maybe I could give you some pointers and even turn you into a decent chef."

Konpaku grinned for a second before tossing back his own barbed comment. "Yeah, maybe you could, but you and I both know you'd never let someone else run your precious kitchen, so you'll never take the time off to teach me."

They both laughed at that, Ayame giggling in the background as she gathered the ingredients for the order. Naruto just looked on, somewhat confused by the whole conversation, but still enraptured by the whole exchange. He wasn't used to being around adults when they talked, so he was watching the whole thing, taking everything in and storing it, almost like making a record of what they said and how they acted.

After a few short minutes of light banter between the chef and Konpaku, the meals were done and a large bowl of piping hot ramen was set before Naruto, the smell wafting off it making his mouth water and his stomach rumble with just the anticipation. Konpaku took a pair of chopsticks, which had taken him a year to master, and broke them in half. He had swore several times that if he hadn't brought a set of utensils from Hyrule with him, he would have starved to death in the first year. He glanced over at Naruto and noticed that he was watching closely, mimicking his movements. It suddenly hit Konpaku that Naruto had probably never used chopsticks before and he didn't feel qualified to teach him. Luckily, there were much better teachers on hand.

"Ayame, could you possibly do me a favor?" asked Konpaku, waving the young waitress over to his part of the counter. He didn't want to embarrass Naruto, so he lowered his voice and whispered over the counter. "Naruto hasn't ever had ramen before and I don't think he knows how to use chopsticks, would you mind teaching him for me?"

To her credit, Ayame took it all in stride, not even questioning why a boy already seven years old didn't know how to use chopsticks. She just nodded and came around the counter, taking Naruto's hand and showing him how to hold the wooden utensils and use them to bring the noodles to his mouth. Konpaku decided now was a good time to get some answers since it looked like Naruto was going to be a little distracted by the food for a while.

"Teuchi, mind if I ask you about a few things?" he asked, catching Teuchi's eyes and giving a slight nod toward the side of the stand. Teuchi could see that his foreign friend was serious and nodded also, going towards the back door of the shop while Konpaku stood and circled the shop himself. He met Teuchi just as he was closing the back door behind him.

"Okay, what's with the kid?" asked Konpaku rather bluntly. He noticed when Teuchi sighed and seemed to contemplate some things.

"Look, I can't tell you everything, okay? It's a secret and if I told you, my life would be forfeit."

That widened Konpaku's eyes and he instantly became more serious than he had been. Whereas before he had merely been serious like one friend is to another, now he was combat serious, his senses on full alert and his mind running at full capacity. "Tell me what you can at least. There's something seriously wrong here."

"I honestly can't tell you much. Most of what I can tell you, you've probably already figured out for yourself." Teuchi sighed before going on. "As you can probably tell, Naruto isn't much liked by the people of the village. He's had a pretty tough life so far and well, I heard a rumor going around that he was kicked out of the orphanage a few days ago. Apparently they were furious when he tried to use a clone in front of one of the workers."

"Wait, hold on a moment," said Konpaku with a raised hand. "If he's been kicked out of the orphanage, then where is he living right now?"

Teuchi just shrugged. "Beats me, I've never actually met him before, hell, I've only seen him once years ago. I've just heard a lot of things from customers that come through here. One of my customers works at the orphanage and she used to rant about him all the time."

"What kinds of things did she rant about?" asked Konpaku with a raised eyebrow.

Teuchi shrugged a little. "Mostly about how she couldn't believe he was left alive, how she was scared for her life every time she went to work. She'd talk a lot about how she would have to 'save' some other kid from him."

Konpaku was very confused now. He didn't know Naruto all that well, and if he was honest with himself he wouldn't even make a judgment call that quickly, but he didn't believe for a second that Naruto was dangerous. Call it instinct or a sixth sense, but Konpaku usually could tell when someone had malicious intent and he didn't sense anything like that from Naruto.

Just then, there was a knock on the back door of the shop. After a second, it opened and Ayame stuck her head out. "Dad, I need you back in here. Naruto is eating bowls faster than I can cook them."

The two men looked at each other with a kind of shock; one amused, the other slightly worried. Konpaku rushed back to the front of the shop while Teuchi walked through the shop, chuckling as he went. What they both saw shocked them even more.

Naruto was slurping down noodles so fast that Konpaku was almost certain he didn't have time to chew. The thought briefly went through his head that eating that fast couldn't be healthy, but the sight of six bowls already stacked in front of Naruto shocked him even more. Naruto lifted the bowl to his lips and slurped down the broth, setting the bowl down a few seconds later with a contented sigh.

"Wow, shrimp ramen is delicious too. Let's see, what should I try next?"

Konpaku just blinked in disbelief. He had just downed seven bowls of ramen in less than ten minutes and he still wanted more? It took him a moment longer to compose himself and speak up. "Hey Naruto, I see you're enjoying dinner."

Naruto gave him a smile that almost seemed to light up the block; it was so big that Naruto couldn't even keep his eyes open. "Yeah, this ramen is awesome. I've had chicken, beef, miso, vegetable medley, seafood medley, pork and shrimp."

"Umm, wow," said Konpaku, looking at all the empty bowls and mentally calculating how much this dinner was going to cost him. "So, which one is your favorite?"

Naruto got a very contemplative look on his face, thinking it over for a few seconds before answering. "All of them!" he declared, making Konpaku freeze in shock while Ayame giggled from behind the counter.

Konpaku shook his head in disbelief for a moment before he noticed Naruto suddenly yawn. He frowned a little as Naruto began to waver from side to side on his stool, then he rushed forward to catch him as Naruto abruptly slipped off the stool. He looked at all the bowls of ramen, wondering for a sec if maybe he was allergic to something, but calmed down quickly when he saw that Naruto was merely asleep, snoring softly in his arms.

"Oh for crying out loud," said Konpaku, standing up while still carrying Naruto. "Looks like he was so tired that his hunger was the only thing keeping him awake."

Ayame looked somewhat distressed while Teuchi just seemed to take it almost in stride, like he'd been expecting it from the beginning. Konpaku sighed and hefted Naruto onto one shoulder, reaching into his pocket to pull out the money for the ramen.

"Here, this should cover the dinner, at least I hope. If you need more, just call me at the embassy and I'll pay you back. I'm taking Naruto to the Hokage, see if we can get this whole mess worked out."

Teuchi muttered something under his breath that sounded like "Good luck" but Konpaku couldn't really be sure. Ayame waved goodbye, almost sadly watching the boy in his arms as he carried him away.

…...

Konpaku had to glare at the secretary when she said that he would have to leave the trash outside. He still wasn't sure exactly why the boy was hated, but he was going to get answers right now and he didn't exactly care what he had to do to get them. Even though a rational part of his brain was telling him not to do anything stupid, the active part of his mind just kept saying he wouldn't do anything stupid as long as no one else did first. Of course, it didn't help that in his mind, plenty of people had already done some really stupid things. So in Konpaku's opinion, he was being perfectly reasonable when he practically kicked in the door to the Hokage's office.

The Hokage himself looked rather surprised when his door came flying open without his secretary giving warning. He was less surprised when he saw who was coming through the door. The person sitting across the desk from the Hokage didn't even flinch, seemingly made of stone for how much he reacted. The other two people in the room did react though, instantly leaping toward Konpaku, placing one kunai knife against his neck while the other pressed one into his lower back.

"I swear I'll never understand how your welcomes work around here," said Konpaku, much calmer than could be expected for someone who's life hung on how steadily someone could hold a razor sharp blade.

The Hokage sighed, seeing who Konpaku had in his arms. "Bear, Cat, let him in. It seems that he's got something very important that he needs to talk about." He turned to his guest before speaking again, standing as he did to show the other person out. "Danzo, perhaps we can discuss the results of your investigation at another time?"

The other man rose to his feet, grabbing a cane that rested on the chair next to him. Despite being wrapped in bandages, he had held his composure through the whole thing. "Of course, Lord Hokage. We'll talk about this tomorrow for sure." Danzo slowly walked toward the door, the tap of his cane almost deafening in the silence that followed.

After Danzo walked out the door, the Hokage made another motion with his hand and the two anbu members disappeared; either blending in like they usually did or actually leaving the room, Konpaku didn't really know. He placed Naruto on a small couch that was set up with a small table to act as a tea area when the Hokage was entertaining guests. Once he knew that Naruto was comfortable, Konpaku turned and walked over to the chair in front of the Hokage's desk, sitting down without permission and waiting for the Hokage to say something.

The Hokage walked over to his desk, sighing as he did and sat down, matching Konpaku's glare with his own, each one of them waiting for the other to talk first. The few seconds of silence allowed Konpaku to calm down a little and he broke the gaze first.

"Uh, sorry about the door," he said rather sheepishly.

"You're going to have to pay to repaint that door, you know?" said the Hokage, silently accepting the apology before moving on. "Now then, what was so important that you needed to see me on such short notice."

Konpaku got a little angry again when he remembered exactly why he had come here in the first place. "Well, I was walking through the town when I ran into this boy here and well, one thing led to another and I'd really like to know what his story is."

The Hokage sighed, reaching into his desk to grab his pipe, filling it with tobacco and lighting it to give himself time to formulate an answer. That also gave Konpaku the impression that the Hokage was getting ready to lie to him, so he got ready to do something that he rarely ever did. He got ready to flex his political muscle.

"Lord Hokage, I can tell this must be a sensitive issue for you, but I need to know the truth. The alliance between our two countries could depend on it."

The Hokage almost dropped his pipe when he heard this, but when he looked in Konpaku's eyes, he could see that he wasn't kidding. He sighed and took a pull on his pipe before setting it down.

"You remember the night you arrived, the Nine-tailed fox had attacked our village?"

"Yes, I remember," said Konpaku. "I wasn't there for the actual attack, but the after affects were bad enough."

The Hokage nodded sagely before picking up his pipe again. "My successor, the Fourth Hokage, was able to defeat the demon, but unlike what we told the children, he was unable to kill it. Instead, he sealed the demon into a child, who's umbilical cord had just been cut."

The Hokage paused there, but Konpaku could tell what was coming next. He looked back at Naruto, a mixture of emotions running through him. "It was him, wasn't it? He sealed the fox into Naruto?"

The Hokage sighed and nodded slowly. He could imagine what was coming next and he knew that it wouldn't be good.

Konpaku tried to calm down, but the rage boiling inside of him was about to explode if he didn't do something to release it. "Do you have any idea how screwed up that is? Maybe, MAYBE I can understand the sacrifice that was made to save the village, but Naruto is treated like dirt, like garbage! He saved their asses and what do they do? They kick him onto the streets and basically ignore him!"

The Hokage frowned at that. He hadn't heard that Naruto was on the streets. Last he heard, Naruto had been staying at the orphanage while he attended the academy. The Hokage already had an apartment picked out for when he graduated.

"The last I heard, Naruto was staying at the orphanage," said the Hokage.

"Well, then I guess I have to tell you that Naruto was thrown out of the orphanage a few days ago, at least from what Teuchi told me. He's practically starving, he's had nothing to eat his whole life but bread and water. He's wearing rags and he is apparently having to steal food to survive. I don't even know where he's staying, he passed out before I could ask him that."

The Hokage sighed, something that seemed to be happening a lot lately. "I never wanted any of this to happen. Neither did the Fourth Hokage. The Fourths final wish was for Naruto to be seen as a hero for what he does; holding the demon inside of himself is a huge strain on his tiny body. However, when we announced that the Fourth had sealed the demon into Naruto, the people of the village didn't understand, and in their pain and fear, they began to hate him. To try to salvage at least something of a normal life for him, I declared that no one could speak of the demon that Naruto holds so that the younger generation might not hate him and he may have a chance to make friends."

Konpaku sighed and shook his head. "Well it's not the kids that's the problem at this point, it's the adults. They are making his life a living hell and something needs to be done about it."

The Hokage took another puff on his pipe, trying to stem the rising headache that was already forming. "Yes, I know that something should be done, but there is nothing we can do now. The people of the village already know about him and though I've tried to assign him protection, I don't know which of my anbu I can trust with this assignment. Some of them realize that he is not the demon that he carries, but others have no compassion in their hearts and they allow terrible things to happen to the boy. So far I don't have any reports of anbu themselves harming him, but even with reliable anbu protecting him, no amount of protection can force the people of the village to not ignore him."

"Yes, I know, but still, something should be done. He needs someone to take care of him."

"I know, but I can't just assign ninja to him, we're still short on manpower after the fox's attack. Besides, he needs a constant in his life, not a different ninja showing up each week to care for him. Besides all that, the council would never allow it if I told them I was assigning ninja to care for him. At least half of the council thinks he's the demon, most of the rest want to use him as a secret weapon."

Konpaku sighed and rested his head in his hands. He was tempted to ask to raise the child, but he didn't think that would be allowed. The council would throw a fit at the thought of a foreigner raising one of their own, no matter who it was. He had enough experience of his own with the council to know that they wouldn't ever like anything he would say. The Hylian exploratory team had put some of their noses out of joint quite badly and with the realization that perhaps they weren't the best in the world, several of the clan heads had become rather cool with him.

"Then what you're saying all we can do is sit back and let him take care of himself?" asked Konpaku, internally seething at the council, the village and even the demon inside of Naruto.

The Hokage nodded his head slowly, a solemn look on his face. "It seems I will have to give him his graduation present early. I have an apartment on hold for him and I suppose that now is as good a time as any for him to take it."

"I would ask that I be allowed to take care of him, but I already know the answer to that," said Konpaku, leaning back in the chair. "So instead, I'll just have to be his friend. As long as there's nothing wrong with that?"

The Third merely smirked before looking up from the desk, pipe now firmly clenched between his teeth as he placed his interlocked fingers under his chin. "I don't recall there being any law that defines who can and cannot be friends. You may do as you will in that regard, but don't expect things to be easy between you and the council if they manage to find out."

Now it was Konpaku's turn to smirk. "Sir, the council and I never got along all that well anyway. I doubt this could make things much worse than they already are."

The Hokage reached into his desk and pulled out an envelope. "This is the key and the address to Naruto's new apartment. It's in one of the poorer districts I'm afraid; even with a Hokages salary, I felt it best to give him a place that's out of the way so that the villagers don't harass him constantly."

Konpaku took the envelope just as he heard a small noise of cloth against cloth from behind him. He turned and noticed that Naruto seemed to be waking up, sitting up slowly on the couch and stretching a little. He smiled softly at the pure and innocent look on the boys face before walking over to him.

"Huh, where am I?" asked Naruto, glancing around the room. When he saw the Hokage, his eyes lit up a little with recognition. "Hey Old Man, what am I doing in your office? I didn't do anything, I swear."

Konpaku chuckled softly before laying a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Don't you worry Naruto, you're not in trouble. In fact, you're here because the Hokage wanted to give you a gift."

Naruto's face lit up like a spotlight; he went from slightly worried to ecstatic in a heartbeat. "Really, a gift! Awesome! What is it Old Man? Come on, let me have it already."

Konpaku blinked as Naruto was suddenly at the Hokages desk, a good ten feet away. He didn't know if this kid had some sort of special ability or if he was just really energetic, but it seemed he moved really fast when he wanted to. "Naruto, I have it right here," he said, waving the envelope in the air. "But first, I have something I want to give you too."

Naruto was so excited it looked like he was going to explode. He couldn't seem to hold still for even a second as Konpaku slowly reached into a pouch that hung on the side of his belt. He pulled out a small, blue stone, wrapped with leather cords to form a necklace. The stone itself was rather roughly cut, almost a natural blue crystal that still had a little rock attached to it. The most interesting thing about it though was that it seemed like the crystal was letting off a soft, iridescent glow from within.

"This is a calling stone," said Konpaku, showing it to Naruto. "Whenever you need me or just want to talk, all you have to do is hold that stone tightly in your hand and speak and I'll be able to hear anything you say through my own stone." He showed Naruto the necklace that he was wearing. He had only four of the small objects, but he decided that Naruto was definitely worth having one.

"That is so cool!" said Naruto, still hyperactively squirming as he almost grabbed the necklace and slipped it over his head. The leather cords got caught on his hair at first and draped the crystal across his nose, but he adjusted it and got it around his neck. "Thanks a lot, Konpaku."

"No problem at all Naruto. Just remember, I want you to call me if you ever need help, okay? I'll be there before you even know it, I promise."

Naruto got a confused look on his face. "Konpaku, what does promise mean?"

"Well Naruto, when a person promises to do something, they have to do it, no matter what. Unless it's impossible of course."

Naruto smiled when he realized what Konpaku meant. He was excited that he had a friend he could count on, no matter what.

Konpaku smiled back at Naruto. Then he realized what time it was and put his hand on his head. "Well Naruto, it's pretty late and the Hokage has given you your own apartment." He handed the envelope over to him. "In here is the address and the key for the apartment, but it's rather late and you need to be going."

Naruto smiled widely again and snatched the envelope from Konpaku's hand, running out the door before he could even offer to show him the way.

"Well, he's a little bundle of energy, isn't he?"

The Hokage chuckled a little. "Yes, he is quite the handful. His teacher at the academy has said the same thing quite often."

Konpaku tried to stifle a yawn. "Well, I think it's about time that I headed home too. Naruto really manages to drain the energy out of you. With your permission, Lord Hokage, I'll take my leave."

The Hokage nodded and Konpaku walked out the door, rubbing his eyes with one hand. He was going to sleep in late tomorrow just to make up for this whole episode.

* * *

And cut. Hope you enjoyed the newest part. This is where things will start to shift from the canon more explicitly, but my goal is to have all changes have a reason behind them. Hopefully you'll understand better what I mean after the next chapter, but for now just know that any changes will have to be a direct result of something else that happens, and not just some random change so that the story makes sense. Honestly, it bugs me when some authors do that, they make some dramatic change from the canon, then give no reasoning as to why that changed, and being a NaruHina fan, that happens a lot. But yes, enough ranting, must go write more.


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, I don't own Naruto or Legend of Zelda. I only own my OC. I still don't get why I have to put this at the front of every chapter, but I guess it can't hurt.

* * *

Chapter 3

Naruto was running through the streets, absolutely giddy at the thought of having an apartment all to himself. He was so excited that it took him a few minutes of running before he realized that he hadn't even opened the envelope and checked the address. A little sheepishly he looked around to make sure no one had noticed him being that stupid and ripped open the envelope, pulling the key and the small piece of note paper out. Grinning like the cat that ate the canary, he once again ran off down the street. Having lived in the attic of the orphanage for years, he didn't realize that he was running in the wrong direction again, having never actually walked through enough of the village to really know the layout.

…...

In another section of town not far from where Naruto was, a ninja stole through the shadows, slowly creeping toward his assignment. He was a very frustrated man, both because of the complexity of his mission and the constant delays he had been forced to endure so far. He checked the rooftops for any movement before slinking through yet another dark alleyway. Slowly, but steadily, he moved toward the clan residence of the prestigious Hyuuga clan.

He mentally swore as he checked another series of rooftops for any guards. This mission had originally been set up to go almost four years ago, during the treaty celebrations. If it hadn't been for that ambassador pulling him aside and talking to him almost all night, then insisting that he escort him back to his own embassy where he discussed possible treaty negotiations for another few hours, he would have been able to sneak out that night and complete his mission. If he had been able to complete his mission then, he wouldn't have had to slink about like a cat afraid of a pack of wild dogs. Instead it had taken years of politics, negotiations and subterfuge before he could finally manage to sneak back into the village. All thanks to one overly chatty ambassador from a country so far away it had no place even worrying about politics in the elemental nations.

The cloud ninja forced himself to mentally set aside his frustrations for the moment. There in front of him was the wall that surrounded the Hyuuga clan compound. All he needed to do was jump the wall, sneak in, and get at least one of the girls before the roving patrols came. Extensive reconnaissance had shown that patrols of anbu typically came by every four minutes or so, though the time could be as short as two minutes and as long as eight. Luckily for him, unlike four years ago, he now had his choice of two separate targets, which meant he had a better chance of being able to find one quickly and get out before a patrol came by. He slipped two pictures from a pouch on his back, quickly glancing over them to make sure the image of his targets was fresh in his mind.

The cloud ninja sank deeper into the shadows as he heard the faint sound of footsteps on tile that indicated another anbu patrol was crossing the rooftops overhead. Even though the anbu were the best, the basics of human psychology were the same, and something that's moving attracts far more attention than something that's holding still, so all the cloud ninja had to do was hold still in the shadows until the patrol was passed. Counting silently to twenty to give time for the patrol to get far enough away, he leapt out of his hiding place, climbing the wall with silence and grace that only years of intense training can accomplish. The hunt was on.

…...

Hinata Hyuuga silently padded her way down the hall of her ornately decorated family home. Soft socks on her feet slid with complete silence across the polished wood of the floors and even her clothing made almost no noise as she barely moved her body enough to cause even the slightest rustle. All in all, she was a very quiet girl and she preferred it that way. She was almost afraid of the attention of others, though anyone who knew of her interactions with her father could tell why instantly. Her father almost never paid attention to her unless she messed up and that was attention she could do without. As a result, Hinata had subconsciously made it her mission in life to never be noticed by anyone. Even in her class at the academy, her grades were average at best, not good enough to gain notice, but not bad enough to attract any attention that way either. Ever since her mother died, being noticed had never led to anything good for her.

Hinata was so good at going unnoticed that no one at this point in time even knew that she was out of her room. She had gotten up to get some water as the dry air this time of year always tended to make her thirsty halfway through the night. She was so quiet that even the household servants from the branch family of the clan hadn't noticed that she had snuck into the kitchen and gotten a glass of water. So when a figure in black dropped from the ceiling and quietly jabbed her with a dart full of paralysis poison, no one knew that anything was out of the ordinary. As far as anyone was concerned, Hinata Hyuuga, heiress of the Hyuuga clan, was still asleep in her bed, when in fact, she was being thrown over the shoulder of a very pleased cloud ninja and abducted from her home.

…...

Naruto was running down the street right outside the Hyuuga residence, still trying to find the address of his new apartment. He knew that he must be in the wrong part of town since there wasn't an apartment building in sight anywhere along the whole block. He wanted to head back to the embassy where he knew Konpaku lived, but he had managed to get completely turned around and didn't know how to get there either. Even using Hokage tower as a reference point didn't seem to help as he kept running into blind alleys and had to double back. He was almost ready to head back to the alley he had been living in for the past few days and try again to find his apartment in the morning when someone landed right in front of him.

The cloud ninja didn't see the boy who was running down the street as he jumped off the wall. According to his watch, he still had another thirty seconds minimum before the next anbu patrol came by, so he didn't expect anyone to be here, especially not out this late. Fate, it seemed, had a different plan because just as he hit the ground near the corner of the Hyuuga compounds wall, someone or something came around the corner and ran right into his side. Even though whatever hit him wasn't all that big, the fact that it caught him by surprise and that he had the Hyuuga girl over his shoulder caused him to lose his balance and go tumbling out into the street. Hinata was also sent tumbling, and because of the paralyzing poison, was unable to break her fall, resulting in a cut across her forehead that started bleeding down her face almost immediately.

"Oww," said Naruto, picking him self up slowly, rubbing his butt where he had landed. He wasn't really hurt, but it still hadn't been a pleasant experience. "Sorry about that mister, I wasn't watching…where…" Naruto trailed off as he looked at the scene before him. The first thing he saw was the other man, covered from head to toe in full ninja gear and wearing a mask on his face. What was odd to Naruto was that the man wore no headband on the outside of his mask. Even though it was only his first year in the academy, even Naruto knew that a friendly ninja would never hide their headband if they were in an allied city. The second thing he noticed was the girl laying on the ground a foot or two away from the masked man. She had blood running down her face and she looked slightly familiar to him. After a second or two of concentration, he realized that he knew the girl from his class at the academy, though he couldn't remember her name at the moment.

"Hey, what's going on here?" asked Naruto, trying to put all the pieces together in his head, but without real combat experience, it was taking too long as he had to remember each lesson from the academy and apply it one at a time. The enemy ninja, on the other hand, had already put all the pieces together and come up with a plan.

The cloud ninja was internally screaming in frustration, but years of training and experience kept the rest of his mind working. He knew that he had, at the worst, less than twenty seconds before the next patrol, he knew he couldn't let the boy make anymore noise than he already had and he knew that he couldn't take the boy with him. In less than a second, the cloud ninja had decided to kill Naruto. With a quick sequence of four hand signs, the cloud ninja activated a jutsu and pressed his hand into the dirt of the road, hoping he could act fast enough to kill the boy before he could make another sound. Silently and swiftly, a spike of earth and rock shot from the ground, impaling Naruto right through the abdomen, severing his diaphragm and puncturing a lung.

Naruto felt the stabbing pain shoot through him and he tried to scream, but he couldn't do it. He wanted to breathe but something wasn't working right, he couldn't seem to breathe in and his breath was starting to leak out of his body slowly, almost like a collapsing parade float. His hands grabbed at his chest and stomach, trying to stanch the flow of blood, trying to save himself somehow, but the overriding pain was too much and he could see blackness on the edge of his vision. He looked up, meaning to look at the man he now knew for certain was an enemy, but his eyes stopped when they met the gaze of the girl from his class. From fifteen feet away, they stared into each others eyes and Naruto saw the pain, the fear, the horror of what was happening in her eyes, not just for him, but for herself as well. It was a look he recognized, but it was far more intense, far more concentrated now. He saw hopelessness in her eyes, a sense that she was doomed; that she was watching her last hope fade right before her.

Like any sane person, Naruto didn't want to die. He was scared, terrified was more like it, but when he saw the hope in her eyes die, something inside him was even more terrified than before. He was horrified at the thought that she was giving up, that she was losing hope and was going to stop fighting. For a moment, the thought of her dying was even scarier than the thought of his own death and something inside of him snapped. Still looking right into her eyes, the hand that was clutching his chest found the calling stone that Konpaku had given him. He gripped it tightly, so tightly that the edges of the crystal actually cut into his palm, causing even more blood to drip down his arm. Feeling his breath leaving his body, he focused as hard as he could, forcing his throat to work, to use the air passing through it because when it was all gone, he knew he wasn't going to get anymore.

"H-help," came the call, not much more than a whisper, barely audible even to Naruto as the pounding of his heart in his ears was getting louder. Something suddenly clicked in his brain and he remembered the girls name. "Hinata," he whispered, still clutching the stone like it was a lifeline holding him onto this plane of existence.

The cloud ninja smirked a little as he heard a few faint, gurgling whimpers from the small boy before he fell silent. He knew he had to take the girl and run as fast as he could. As soon as the anbu found the body, they would put out a village wide alert and it would be much harder to get out. The easiest thing would be to get out of the village as soon as possible; escape in the confusion while the leaf ninja tried to figure out what had happened. He turned to pick up the girl, but at that moment, he felt a quick jerk of motion against his neck. He blinked a few times, not fully understanding what had happened; he hadn't felt anything more than what amounted to a quick tug, but his brain was screaming something was wrong. The ninja reached up, gripping his neck with one hand, feeling something warm and wet covering his skin before he felt it. A cut, made by something razor sharp, so sharp he hadn't even felt it break the skin, went across his neck, severing both the jugular vein, the carotid artery and the windpipe. He could feel his lungs filling up with his own blood before his brain ran out of blood and darkness overtook him, falling less than two seconds after feeling the tug across his skin.

Konpaku looked down on the body of the dead ninja, tossing his dagger into the dirt next to him. He would have to clean the blood off later, but for right now, he needed to attend to Naruto.

"Naruto!" he cried, seeing that the boy was still impaled on the earth spike. Konpaku rushed over, careful to lift him so that the spike didn't do even more damage on the way out. Laying him on his back, Konpaku stripped the shirt off his body using a combination of brute strength and his other dagger. He tore the shirt into long ribbons to use as bandages, but first he had to do something about that stomach wound. He focused on his right hand, summoning forth the power that he held within him before pressing the hand to Naruto's wound. What Konpaku didn't expect was a sudden reaction as the golden, healing energy was violently rejected by Naruto's body. Konpaku was almost blown onto his back from the force of the feedback and only the fact that it was healing energy kept him from being injured. After a second of staring in shock, Konpaku realized that the demon fox inside of Naruto was leaking it's chakra into the boys body, keeping him from injecting his own energy.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you damn fox!" yelled Konpaku, furious that his attempts to help Naruto were being repelled. "Do you hate humans so much that you just want to make sure that one last one dies before you do? Is that it, you demon?" Konpaku was screaming at Naruto's stomach, yelling at the demon in rage as he tried to understand why the fox wouldn't let him heal Naruto. He got up and was ready to keep yelling at the boys stomach when he noticed that the wound was actually healing. The blood flow was already staunched and the flesh was re-growing so quickly that he could actually see muscles and tissues forming and knitting together. The last touch was the skin on the stomach and within seconds, Naruto was completely healed. Konpaku realized at that point that the demon had been leaking chakra into Naruto to save him, not to keep Konpaku from helping. It was just a natural result that the holy energy Konpaku kept inside of him and the demonic energy of the nine tailed fox would repel each other like oil and water.

Hinata was still paralyzed, but she had fallen in such a way that she was able to see the whole thing as it happened. Watching Naruto get impaled was horrifying, and seeing what happened to the cloud ninja had almost made her lose her dinner, but now she was curious as to what was going on in the aftermath of it all. The man who had apparently appeared out of no where was yelling at Naruto, calling him a fox and a demon. Hinata didn't know why anyone would say that about Naruto, he was one of the funniest and nicest boys in her class. She even had a small crush on him because he was always so confident, but tonight, seeing the determination and concern in his eyes for her had taken those feelings and done the work of years in mere seconds, turning them into something stronger than a mere crush. When they had locked eyes, even though Naruto had been the one dying, Hinata could almost feel his concern for her and her fate, the strength of that concern had sparked new determination in his eyes. It was almost like he refused to die until he managed to help her, no matter what. And even though she hadn't heard it, she had seen his lips form her name as his last breath escaped his body.

Naruto's gasp brought Konpaku's attention from his stomach back up to his face. It seemed that he was breathing again, though he was still unconscious and would remain so for who knows how long. Konpaku was no expert, but even he knew that you couldn't make something from nothing, and even though he was healed now, his energy reserves along with whatever amount of spare proteins Naruto had in his body had gone into healing that wound. Without prompt medical attention to rebuild those reserves, his organs might still fail and he could still die, demon or no demon. Just as he was about to seek help, he felt a small amount of pressure on the back of his neck, pressing right between the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae.

"About time you anbu showed up," said Konpaku, making sure not to move in case the person behind him got a little twitchy with his kunai. "We have one bad guy down, two friendly casualties. I've looked over the boy, he's out of danger for the time being but we need to get him to a hospital. I haven't looked over the girl yet though, so you may want to be doing that instead of treating me like I'm the enemy here."

When the pressure was released, Konpaku turned around slowly, making sure not to make any quick moves that may be seen as offensive. When he finally got fully turned around, he was met with an anbu wearing a wolf mask along with two other anbu checking the girl. The one with the wolf mask had long, silver hair that somehow seemed to defy gravity by sticking up into the air at an odd angle.

"The Hyuuga is okay, she's been drugged, but her breathing and heartbeat is regular and strong. The head wound is superficial but we should probably take her to a hospital anyway, at least until we can figure out what she was drugged with." One of the anbu picked up the girl while the other went to check on Naruto. Konpaku moved into his path before he could reach him.

"He's alright, I healed him before you got here. He's very frail at the moment though, so we'll need to take him to a hospital too so he can be monitored and re-nourished." Konpaku kept his eyes on the anbu wearing what looked like a weasel mask. He wasn't sure how this man felt about Naruto and in his condition, killing him would be as simple as carrying him the wrong way. Because of that, Konpaku decided it would be a good idea to carry Naruto himself. The weasel anbu shrugged and didn't say anything, motioning for the wolf anbu to pick up the body of the dead enemy. The weasel anbu pulled Konpaku's dagger from the dirt, cleaning it off before offering it back to it's owner. Allowing himself to smile softly, Konpaku took the dagger and put it into it's sheath before picking up Naruto and following them all to the hospital.

…...

In most villages the hospital would be quiet at night. In a ninja village, however, the opposite is actually true. Ninja are known for stealth and their ability to fight when conditions make fighting nearly impossible for others. Of course, this takes a large amount of training, and that usually means night training. So for the village Hidden in the Leaves, night time was prime time at the hospital as training accidents flooded in. There were the usual of course, ninja who had simply stumbled in the dark, wounded themselves because they were practicing with an unfamiliar weapon and the occasional jutsu backfire from messing up the hand signs in the dark. So when Konpaku and the anbu came to the emergency room with their young patients, Konpaku at least was somewhat surprised to be put in a waiting line.

Konpaku was sitting impatiently, still holding Naruto in his arms both as a protective gesture and so he could rush to see the doctor as soon as their name was called. The paranoid half of his brain was telling him that they were making him wait because it was Naruto while the logical part of his brain was looking around the room and cataloging the injuries that were worse than Naruto's so he would know exactly when their name would be called. The anbu seemed like stand up guys though; they had helped cut down the waiting time a little by informing the staff that this was a matter of village security. At some point they had also apparently gotten word to the Hokage because after about ten minutes of waiting, he walked into the emergency room and really got things rolling.

"Why is it that a hero of the village and a key witness to a security threat are left waiting in the emergency room instead of receiving immediate treatment?" boomed the Hokage's voice. Before he could continue, there were two doctors and five nurses ready and waiting to treat the two children. Konpaku shook his head slightly in amusement before following Naruto to his room. The doctor quickly realized that it was a case of extreme chakra exhaustion and borderline malnutrition and in minutes Naruto was given a bed and an IV was set up. Konpaku was left alone sitting next to the bed until a few minutes later when the other doctor brought Hinata to the room as well, laying her down in her own bed and setting up an IV drip.

"So how is she?" asked Konpaku, looking at the still paralyzed young girl.

"She'll be fine. The poison paralyzes the victim, but at these doses, the affects aren't permanent. She'll probably be able to move fully again before morning, though she'll be able to talk pretty soon. For now though, she needs to take it easy and not even try to move. The poison attacks muscles and weakens them; if she tries to move before the poison is cleared out of her system, it could tear the muscles and cause much worse damage."

Konpaku nodded and then sighed as the doctor left the room. He turned to look at Naruto, but he was still unconscious and would most likely be for a while. Turning to Hinata, he could see that the girls eyes were looking around the room even though she was still unable to speak. Deciding that even a one sided conversation was better when the other person could still hear you, he pulled his chair over to Hinata's bed and smiled at her.

"Hi, we've met before, but I don't think we were ever properly introduced. I'm Konpaku, the ambassador from Hyrule. I met you once when I had a meeting with your father, but we never got to really talk. You're Hinata, his oldest daughter if my memory still works right." Konpaku smiled at Hinata again, watching her eyes to gauge her mood. She noticed that she kept looking directly at him, then over toward Naruto's bed. He glanced at Naruto then back at her and he could almost feel the questions in her eyes.

"Don't worry, he's going to be fine. He's too stubborn to die that easily. A few days and some healthy hospital food and he'll be better than ever." Konpaku's smile died for a moment as he looked into her eyes; the questioning look was still there and he had a good idea about what it was about. "You were awake the whole time, so you heard what I said, right? Don't try to talk, just nod with your eyes." He watched as her eyes went up and down a few times. "I was afraid of that. Look, I can't tell you what it all means, and don't bother asking Naruto because he doesn't even know. I'll talk to the Hokage about it, but for now, I need you to not say anything about it, not to Naruto, not even to your own father, understood?" Another eye nod later and Konpaku was satisfied. "Good. Now you rest and I'll be back in a little while. Maybe by then we can have an actual conversation."

Konpaku smiled at her again before getting up out of his chair. He checked on Naruto before walking out the door, finding the Hokage getting a report from the anbu in the hallway.

"When we arrived, the ninja was already dead and the ambassador was attending to Naruto's wounds," said the anbu with the weasel mask on. He turned to leave when the Hokage dismissed them, but stopped for a moment and turned to Konpaku before leaving. He removed his mask, revealing a young boy who looked like he was barely a teenager, except for his eyes which showed a kind of maturity that isn't formed by age. "Your take down technique was very impressive, ambassador."

Konpaku didn't smile at the compliment, instead choosing to match the boys gaze with his own. They shared a look that spoke volumes and for a moment, each could see the pain of being forced to take life coldly and without time for remorse or feelings in the others eyes. After a moment, the gaze was broken and the anbu replaced his mask, turning to follow his team out of the hospital.

"That boy has already seen too much," said Konpaku, frowning softly as he watched the anbu walk away.

"Yes, it is one of the great dangers of genius," said the Hokage. "Much has been expected from him from the very day he was born and trying to live up to that kind of standard has taken it's toll on him. But we're not here for a psychological evaluation of my ninja, are we?"

Konpaku sighed before turning to the Hokage. "I'm not sure there's much I can add that the anbu haven't mentioned. Naruto called me through the stone I gave him. When I arrived, the girl was already down with the head wound and Naruto was impaled on a spike made of earth. The blow was very calculated; it punctured his diaphragm and his lungs so that he couldn't call for help. A moment after I arrived, he turned back toward the girl, for what reason I wasn't sure at the time, but at that time I chose to…..eliminate the threat." Konpaku had chosen his words carefully. He knew the lingo as well as anyone; an enemy was never a man, never another human like you, he was a threat, a target, a **thing** that needed to be stopped. Using terms like that helped people cope with the reality of taking life and it was something every soldier went through, whether consciously or not.

The Hokage sighed, knowing full well the lingo himself. He wished for a moment that he could have his pipe with him, but the hospital had a rather strict rule about smoking and even the Hokage wasn't exempt from that.

"Lord Hokage, there's another problem that I need to talk over with you," said Konpaku, looking rather sheepish at the moment. "When I tried to heal Naruto, the demonic chakra within him interfered. I'm afraid that in my frustration, I yelled at the demon out loud. While I never explicitly revealed Naruto's secret, I'm afraid I said enough to make the Hyuuga girl curious."

The Hokage sighed again. It was simply too late, or too early depending on ones view of things, to be dealing with something like this. "I assume you think we should tell her?"

"I'm not sure if we can avoid it at this point," said Konpaku. "She will have questions and unless we plan to threaten her to keep quiet, she'll most likely keep asking. Of course, that brings up the question of if we should tell Naruto. If we are forced to tell someone else, then he has the right to know first. If we tell him, then perhaps we can let him decide if he wants the girl to know or not."

"Or we might break his spirit once and for all letting him know about the true depth of the burden he bears," said the Hokage. "We don't know if Naruto can even handle the knowledge. He might hate the village and turn against us when he knows or he even might be driven to injure himself in an attempt to placate the villagers."

"I agree that all of those are possibilities, Lord Hokage, but they are all just as likely to happen now as later. The longer we wait, the more chance that some random villager will let it slip and then we could be faced with him not trusting us for not telling him." Konpaku watched the Hokage's face for any sort of reaction. "Right now, he trusts you and me. We might be the only people he trusts in the whole village and if we decide to keep this from him, he might not trust us when he is told."

At this moment, the Hokage was desperately wishing for a smoke. Luckily, there was a brief moment of reprieve as another anbu, this one with a cat mask, appeared in their silent manner before the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, the Hyuugas have been informed of Hinata's condition."

The Third nodded to the anbu. "Very good. Who are they sending to check on her?"

Even beneath the mask, it was easy to see that the question made the anbu a little uncomfortable. "Umm, well, no one sir. Hiashi said that if she was strong enough to survive this, then there was no point in checking up on her, and if she wasn't strong enough, then the hospital would deliver the body."

For the second time that night, Konpaku felt a spike of cold fury in his gut. "She's just a child, damn it. Who does that cold hearted bastard think he is? Is he really going to forbid the entire clan from visiting her?"

The Hokage's face was set in a mask of disappointment and sadness. "Unfortunately, Hiashi has his own methods of enforcing his will upon the rest of the Hyuugas."

Konpaku's face paled as he realized what the Hokage was talking about. "He wouldn't actually use the seal just for something like this, would he? I knew he was a cold hearted bastard, but that's just going too far. I can't believe that he would do something like this to his own daughter."

The Hokage sighed, dismissing the anbu with a wave of his hand before turning toward the exit. "Unfortunately, even as Hokage I do not have the ability to interfere with clan law. What Hiashi chooses to do with his clan is his business as clan head and unless it threatens the security of the village, then I have no say in the matter." He quickly left before he would have to once again hear Konpaku's complaints on the matter. It was frustrating because he knew that Konpaku was right, but there wasn't anything he could really do about it.

Konpaku was left outside the door of the kids room, once again wishing he could do something, but knowing as an outsider to the village, he was essentially helpless. He wondered for a moment about threatening to withdraw Hyrule's support, but he knew if he pushed that too much, they would figure out sooner or later that it was a paper tiger. The last order of his King was something Konpaku never allowed himself to forget.

Turning back into the hospital room, Konpaku walked over to the chair he had been sitting in before, checking on Naruto briefly before turning his attention back to the young girl on the bed next to Naruto. "Well, how are you feeling, Hinata?"

"G-good, thank you," she said in a small voice, so quiet that Konpaku had to strain to hear her over the sound of his own breathing.

"That's wonderful," said Konpaku, smiling wide as he could. "I see you're already starting to talk again. Just remember, don't push yourself too much. Can't have a cute voice like that being damaged, can we?"

Poor Hinata's face turned a shade of red that Konpaku was pretty certain wasn't all that healthy. For a moment he wondered if the rest of her body had any blood in it before she glanced over at Naruto and her mind seemed to be taken off his innocent compliment. "Is N-naruto going to be o-okay?"

"Yes, he's going to be fine. Just a small case of chakra exhaustion and some small nutritional issues. He'll probably be fine in a few days." Konpaku took a moment to watch the girls eyes, reading her emotions clearly even though she didn't have pupils like most people. Despite being a ninja trainee, she obviously didn't have much skill in hiding her emotions and the concern and care for Naruto was written all over her face. "You care for Naruto, don't you?"

The blush that had almost completely faded rushed back. Hinata's eyes went wide and for a moment she looked like she was going to faint.

"Woah, hold on there girl, breathe, remember to breathe." He placed a hand on hers and for a brief moment he allowed some of his power to flow into her, to help steady her and keep her from fainting. It seemed to calm her almost instantly, her blush faded to something a bit more healthy and her breathing became steady and deep again. Konpaku let the magic circulate a bit and then in a spur of the moment decision, he decided to let it stay in her. It was a rather small spell, simply designed to help her keep her emotions calm and better under her own control when she felt nervous. It wouldn't change her personality in any way, just allow her to control her own emotions better, especially the negative ones.

Hinata didn't know what was going on. One second she felt like she was on the verge of fainting and the next, she suddenly felt much calmer. She still felt nervous, but for some reason it didn't seem to affect her as much as it usually did.

"You know, Naruto doesn't have many people who care about him," said Konpaku, trying to get the conversation back on track. "He's been alone his whole life. You probably don't know this, and honestly I'm not sure I should be telling you, but if you really care about him, you should know. Naruto was living in the orphanage for his whole life until a few days ago. The workers there kept him separate from the other kids, never allowing him to make friends or get to know anyone. He's been shunned by everyone, ignored and feared for something he doesn't even know about. I talked to the Hokage about it and we've decided to tell him. We've also decided that if he wants to tell you, then we'll let him do it. So all I can really say is, if you want to know about Naruto, become someone he can trust. If you can do that, then I'm sure he'll tell you his secret and then maybe you can be another person that Naruto cares about."

Konpaku got up, not waiting for a response from the pale eyed girl. He'd had his say and now it was time to let her think it over. He hoped that he had read her right because if he had, Naruto might have his first real friend.

* * *

Okay, so there it is. I think this chapter will start to show more how the presence of one person has already started to change quite a bit. Also, this is a bit of a response to people who seem to forget something when they write their own story. Hinata was 3 years old when she was kidnapped, which means that Naruto was just barely 4. Yet it seems that somehow when people want Naruto to save Hinata from the cloud ninja, Naruto manages to somehow foil the kidnapping when he's 8 or 9, and no one ever gives a good explanation as to why things are so different. Hence, I gave a reason. Fear my logic.


	4. Chapter 4

And so here it is, the next chapter. Sorry for the gap in there, but stuff happens, you know? Again, I don't own Naruto or any of the moves/items from the Legend of Zelda series.

* * *

Chapter 4

1 year later

Konpaku leapt from rooftop to rooftop, following his target. Even though he didn't have any ninja training, this was actually a pretty simple exercise for anyone with enough strength and thanks to a few accessories he'd been allowed to bring with him from his homeland, he had strength in spades. He could tell his target was trying to find him, trying to tell which angle he would strike from. Konpaku simply smiled. His enemy might have been good, may have exceptional skills, may even be a near genius when it came to ambushes and traps, but when it came to stealthily stalking an adversary, Konpaku knew he had the advantage.

The lone figure on the street was looking around desperately. He knew he wasn't alone, he knew that the attack could come from anywhere at anytime, but he didn't know where Konpaku was. He was having a mild freak out because he knew he was doomed even if his head refused to accept the fact. He had already decided that if he was going to go down, he was going down fighting. Suddenly, he spun around, some latent sense telling him that the attack was coming from behind. He lifted his arm, hurling the weapon in his hand toward Konpaku without even checking his aim. It was a panicked response, but he hoped it would at least throw off Konpaku's aim. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as he felt the cold smack against his skin, followed by the chilling feeling of water drenching him.

"Nice try Naruto, but you'll have to be faster than that to beat me," said Konpaku, holding another water balloon in his hand, smiling at the dripping form of the boy in front of him. Even though his wet hair hung across his face, his smile was bright.

"You win this round Konny, but now it's my turn and you're going down," shouted Naruto, grinning the whole time. He was already pulling out another balloon to fill with water.

Konpaku winced at his nickname. He knew Naruto only gave nicknames to people he liked, but Konny just sounded so much like a girls name. "Hey Naruto, why don't we see if we can get some of your friends from the academy to train with us?"

Naruto's bright grin stayed on his face, but Konpaku could sense that it had changed from a real smile to a forced one. He inwardly sighed as he already knew exactly what Naruto was going to say.

"Nah, they all have family training and stuff like that, they don't have time to play around with me," said Naruto, trying to downplay it all.

Konpaku adopted a look of mock seriousness. "Now Naruto, you know this isn't just playing, this is important tracking, stealth and detection training." Konpaku let his face break out into a big grin. "Just because we're using water balloons instead of kunai doesn't mean this isn't serious business."

Naruto laughed at that before settling down and running off to the nearest public faucet to fill his water balloon. Konpaku followed him, still wanting to get an answer to his earlier question. "So Naruto, why don't you invite one of your classmates to train with us?"

Naruto got a sober look on his face, but Konpaku couldn't see it as Naruto was watching the water balloon fill up. "It's nothing, really, I just don't want to accidentally say or do something that might give away….you know, my secret."

Konpaku sighed, this time out loud. "You know Naruto, when the Hokage and I told you about that, we didn't do it so you would have an excuse to stay away from people."

Naruto's head whipped around, looking at Konpaku with an almost deadly seriousness. "No, you just told me why everyone else stays away from me. If the one thing that's keeping people away from me is something I can't change, then what's the point of even trying? I'll never be able to change enough to satisfy them, not as long as I've got this thing in me." Naruto clenched his free hand over his stomach.

Konpaku actually smiled when he heard this. He had been poking and prodding at Naruto for over a year after he had been told about the fox, trying to figure out how Naruto felt about it. Naruto had been a very private person, removing himself from the rest of society. At first Konpaku had thought it was because that's what Naruto was used to, seeing as how he had been separated from everyone else at the orphanage, so he tried to help Naruto open up. But over the last few months, he had realized that Naruto could open up, if his friendships with the Hokage, the staff at Ichiraku and himself were any indication. The problem was, Naruto didn't allow himself to open up unless a huge amount of effort was put in and most people didn't have the kind of patience needed to deal with it. He had no new friends at school, he hadn't made a single new friend since he moved out of the orphanage and into his apartment. He had even tactfully avoided Hinata after they had been released from the hospital and as far as Konpaku knew, they weren't friends either.

"Naruto, you're wrong," said Konpaku, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He met the boys angry look with one of his own.

"How can you say I'm wrong?" shouted Naruto. "They all hate me, they don't want to know me and nothing I do can change their reason. They hate me because I have IT inside me."

"No Naruto, they don't hate you because you have it inside you," said Konpaku, his voice calm and level. "They hate you because they don't understand you. They hate you because they think it can get out, they hate you because they think it controls you, they hate you because they don't really know you."

Naruto was on the verge of tears by now, struggling to hold onto the anger and hatred, but it was slowly being washed away by a sea of pain, of hurt, of loneliness that had been building up for eight years of neglect and rejection.

Konpaku crouched in front of Naruto, bringing their faces level with each other. "If you take the time and make the effort to show them the real you, then they won't be able to hate you, no matter what. Because right now, you're just hiding behind the fox and that's all anyone sees. But if you make the effort and show them who you really are, then they will have no choice but to ignore the fox and see you, and Naruto, you are someone that no one can hate."

At that simple declaration, Naruto lost what little control he had left and started weeping openly, throwing himself against Konpaku's chest. Konpaku just held him, glad they had finally gotten that out in the open. Now maybe he had a better chance of helping Naruto make some real friends.

…...

Later that night, Konpaku was walking toward the Hokage tower when he ran into a surprisingly familiar individual.

"Ah, hello again, Captain Weasel," said Konpaku, grinning widely. "If you're here for another rematch, I'm afraid I don't have the time. I've been called by the Hokage to attend a meeting."

For his part, the anbu managed to keep the annoyance at his nickname off his face. Ever since that incident a year ago, when he had met the ambassador, he had been testing himself against him, trying to match his own skills with this unknown element. He lost more often than he won, but his wins were starting to come more frequently. "That's quite alright Ambassador Gajin, I've also been called by the Hokage. Let's walk together."

Konpaku smiled at Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, master of the Sharingan eye and head of the anbu black ops. When they had met, Itachi was a captain in the black ops, and when Konpaku learned that his name actually meant weasel, which was the same as his anbu mask, he couldn't help but give him that nickname. Itachi actually took it rather well, giving him his own nickname and demanding to spar with him from time to time. Konpaku had to admit, the boy was good, very good, and likely to get only better. It was no wonder they called him a genius and a prodigy, but like the Hokage had said, it was a lot of weight to bear.

"So, how is that young boy coming along," asked Itachi, starting off the small talk for the evening. "He's one of my brother's classmates, what was his name again?"

"Naruto," answered Konpaku, smiling at the memory of earlier. "He's doing quite well, he actually managed to land a blow on me in training today. Though I he still needs to work on his aim. I always tell him, the first hit should be the last hit, but he doesn't have the aim yet to make that work."

Itachi smiled a little. "Sounds like he might turn out to be a decent ninja. I just hope he has a good instructor for jutsu."

"Yes, that's something that I can't teach him unfortunately. I've been teaching him hand to hand and weapon forms, but all this chakra stuff is still way beyond me."

"I seem to recall that you have your own bag of tricks though. Things that can even match jutsu in their destructive power."

Konpaku smiled softly. "Well, we may not access chakra like you do, but we Hylians have our own tricks. The only problem is, we can't really teach them like you do, every individual has to come up with their own."

"Still, that can be an advantage sometimes. Remember how I reacted when I found out my Sharingan couldn't copy your moves?"

Konpaku couldn't help but chuckle at that memory. "Yes, I remember you being so shocked that I got the first hit in for free. Remember how Gai gave you that lecture about keeping your guard up at all times?"

Itachi just groaned. "I've been trying to forget. That man is a wonderful ninja, but a very strange person."

Just then they both arrived at the Hokage tower. Walking in, they looked around for the usual guards, but tonight there was no one. That was odd in and of itself, but when they saw that the Hokage's secretary was also missing, they knew something was really off. Konpaku slipped a dagger from it's sheath, motioning for Itachi to cover his back. He opened the door to the Hokage's office slowly, noting that the light was on before throwing the door open and charging into the room.

"Mr. Ambassador, we really need to stop meeting like this," said a bandaged man sitting in one of the seats facing the Hokage's desk.

"Yes, it is rather strange that I always get a sense of evil and foreboding around you, Danzo," said Konpaku, sheathing his dagger before walking over to take a seat. Of all the council members that Konpaku had to deal with, Danzo was the worst. His militaristic warmongering was really annoying, especially to Konpaku. He had already caught several of the older mans spies and agents trying to steal information from the embassy, but he could never trace it back to Danzo explicitly. He knew that Danzo resented his very presence in the village since he never stopped talking about how useless alliances with other villages were.

"Konpaku, Itachi, thank you for coming at such a late hour," said the Hokage, looking a little weary this evening. "I'm afraid this is a rather grave situation and since the Ambassador doesn't know anything about it, I think I should take a moment to fill him in on the situation."

Danzo and Itachi both nodded, letting Konpaku know that whatever was going on, they were both in on it together. That thought alone made his skin crawl. The villages number one military genius with more ambition than a whole class of new genin pared with the best ninja in the village short of the legendary three Sannin, who Konpaku had heard about, but never met. If those two were working together on some project, then he didn't even want to think about what kind of things could be done. Between the two of them, they could probably destroy entire villages if they had a mind too.

"About two years ago, Danzo approached me with some information regarding one of the clans of the village. He said he had indications that this clan was planning on a coup. I looked over his findings and gave permission for him to conduct a more thorough investigation. When he came back with more information a year later, I was forced to look into it myself."

Konpaku scowled slightly, his brain already rushing ahead of the conversation. If this was about a clan in the village getting ready to go rouge, then why was he here? This was what most would call an 'internal matter' and he wouldn't even be informed until after it was taken care of. Unless he was some sort of outside observer, someone who's judgment the Hokage trusted, which implicitly meant that he didn't trust the other two sitting in this room. Konpaku suddenly felt very nervous sitting next to Itachi.

"I assigned one of the best anbu in the village to investigate the claims that Danzo was making and if possible bring me a list of the conspirators. Unfortunately, his findings confirmed Danzo's investigation and revealed that the entire clan had knowledge of the plot. Now, we are here to determine what should be done. I have brought you here, Ambassador, because if we go to war with this clan, I believe your people may be the only ones capable of meeting them head on in a fight."

That shocked Konpaku a little. He knew the clans of the Leaf Village pretty well after eight years of living among them and he honestly didn't think there was any one clan that tough. Every clan had it's own style that had advantages and disadvantages and unless you could combine all of the styles together, you'd be at a huge disadvantage taking on the whole village with a single clan. "May I ask, Lord Hokage, which clan is it?"

The Hokage looked even more somber for a moment before looking directly into Konpaku's eyes. "It is the Uchiha clan."

Konpaku was shocked senseless for a moment before he almost violently reacted. "That's utterly insane! They're the village's police force, why in the world would they try to take over the village? They've sworn to protect it both from without and from within for the goddess' sake."

The Hokage sighed, closing his eyes as though to ward off a headache. "I'm afraid this is partially my doing. It is legend in the Leaf Village that the founder of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha, could use the Sharingan eye to control the nine-tailed fox. After the fox's attack eight years ago, a rumor circulated around the village that the Uchiha were responsible. Because of it, they were shunned, feared and rejected wherever they went. Even though they were still a respected and powerful clan, they were forced to move to a new section of town further away from the important parts as a security measure. At first they were assured it would simply be temporary, but as time passed, it became normal. This fear and mistrust has pushed the clan into madness. They are planning on taking over the village and Itachi here knows the whole plan."

Itachi nodded somberly. "I'm afraid my father is the person who came up with the plan. He expects me to have a leading role in it, even going so far as to have me kill another in the clan to unlock the hidden power of my Sharingan. My clan is too far gone now, there's nothing left worth saving. They are drunk with delusions. They believe in their own superiority so much that the very thought of defeat does not even enter their minds. They are sure that no matter what they do, they cannot lose, and because of that, any negotiations will fail immediately. Indeed, trying to negotiate at all, even letting them know that we know what they plan, will only cause them to attack now instead of later. I am afraid that unless something can be done, there will be civil war in the Leaf Village."

"And that is why I have one hundred Root agents ready and waiting for the order to strike," said Danzo, finally contributing to the conversation. "We cannot afford to wait another moment. Give me the order and the Uchiha clan will be dead by morning."

Konpaku couldn't believe what he was hearing. His mind was still trying to grasp what was being said, what was being considered. Suddenly, his brain latched onto something and he couldn't help but bring it up. "Wait a moment," he said, turning to Itachi. "So all that sparring, all those times you said you wanted to test my strength, you were just trying to see if the Hylians could beat the Uchiha, weren't you?"

The Hokage raised a hand to keep Itachi from answering. "That was done under my orders, Mr. Ambassador. We had to know which of our allies to call on in case of a full blown war with the Uchihas. Please, do not hold it against Itachi. He told me he was your friend and that you sparred from time to time and I asked him to evaluate your combat abilities."

Konpaku groaned slightly before putting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, this is just a lot to take in all at once. The things we're discussing are horrible. Our only choices seem to be either genocide or civil war."

The Hokage closed his eyes again, this time to try to control the tears which were forming. "It is a sad thing, but we are beyond certain that the Uchiha will not negotiate. We must either take action now and try to control the damage or we must prepare for a long and arduous war that will leave us vulnerable to attack by other nations."

In the seat next to Itachi, Danzo smirked softly at the Hokage's words. He knew the Hokage would have no choice but to order the extermination of the Uchiha clan and he would be ready with his Root operatives to kill the men, take the children and train them into his own personal fighting force and maybe even capture a few of the women to breed up a new generation later on. With such a force behind him, he was confident that his ascension to Hokage would be assured this time. All he needed was the go ahead from the current Hokage and that was nearly assured.

"Lord Hokage, I have a request," said Itachi, startling Danzo out of his thoughts.

"You may ask it," said the Hokage, wondering what his top ninja might want.

"Please, allow me to destroy the clan."

Konpaku almost jumped out of his chair. "What the hell? Are you insane, Itachi, that's your family."

"It has to be done, Konpaku, and as a member of that clan, it is my responsibility to make sure that it causes no harm to the Leaf Village. I am the heir to the Uchiha clan and so it falls to me to take responsibility for it's mistakes," said Itachi, his voice strong, his face completely sober and emotionless. "My only request is that my clans disgrace is never known. I will flee the village and become a rouge ninja, but I ask that my clans honor at least remain intact."

Internally, Danzo was panicking. If the Hokage allowed it, then his chance to get his hands on the Uchiha power may be lost forever. He had to do something and quickly before the Hokage had the time to agree to this ridiculous proposal. "You are only one man, you cannot possibly take on the entire clan yourself. It would be better to send in my Root members."

Itachi just smiled coldly. "If it becomes known that the Uchiha clan was exterminated by anbu, then people will want to know why and my clans disgrace will be made public. I'm just asking for a chance. If I fail, then the clan will not blame you and you will have a chance to finish them off later. But if I succeed, then no one need ever know why my clan had to die."

Konpaku was twisting up in knots inside. He felt sick, confused and a hundred other emotions that he couldn't seem to put a name too. Then, quite suddenly, he had an idea. It was a cruel, nasty, dangerous and insane idea, but it just might work. "Lord Hokage, I think you should let Itachi try," he said, shocking everyone in the room. "He is correct about one thing. They still don't know he's been working for you. Even if he doesn't kill the whole clan, they won't know why he's killing them and that may shake them a little. Besides, if he kills enough, maybe they'll realize that they're not invincible and call off the attack."

The Hokage was surprised to see Konpaku actually advocating this, but he figured that he really had no choice in the matter. "Very well, Itachi, you have permission to try. If you succeed, I will declare you a rouge ninja and you will have 48 hours before I send the anbu after you. I hope you make the most of that time. While you are gone though, I do hope that you will still secretly protect the village from the outside, just as you have done all your life from the inside."

Itachi rose from his chair, already thinking about what would need to be done to prepare for this mission. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. You have my word that no matter what happens, I will defend the village with my life. By tomorrow morning, you will know if I have succeeded or failed. Goodnight gentlemen." Itachi vanished in classic anbu style, leaving the rest of them to finish the meeting.

"If you will excuse me, Lord Hokage, I get the feeling that tonight may be a good night to stay in the embassy. With your permission, I'll take my leave." Konpaku then departed in his own fashion, appearing inside of his embassy for a moment before running up the stairs to his private room. Inside, he opened an armoire and began to remove various pieces of armor. They were more rigid and sturdy than normal ninja armor, but also heavier and in some cases they restricted maneuverability. Konpaku was used to this, however, and he knew that tonight, he would need to cast aside the veil of politician and fully embrace the warrior he had been and still was. He looked longingly at his shield for a moment before placing it back inside the armoire. As much as he would have liked to use it, he knew that he couldn't afford any identifying features tonight, and a shield with the crest of Hyrule on it would stick out too much. Draping a cloak over his body to hide his armor and weapons, he turned toward the window and took off into the night, ready to put his plan into action.

…...

In another part of the village, Itachi was going over his own preparations. He strapped his anbu armor on piece by piece, slowly letting his emotions take over. He had found that if he let his emotions out while preparing for a mission, it was easier to suppress those emotions during the actual mission itself. And so, for what he figured was the last time, he let his emotions out, gave them full reign as he slowly prepared for what would probably be the most difficult mission of his life. It was a little difficult since the tears blurred his vision but he knew that he needed to purge himself of all emotions now or else he wouldn't be able to do this mission.

Itachi picked up his anbu mask, looking at it almost forlornly. He had been through a lot while wearing this mask. For each mission in the anbu, it had been more than a mask, it had been his identity, his alternate persona, the person he could become while on missions, then take off and put away while at home. Tonight though, he would need to become that person again, but this time without the mask. He needed people to see his face, he needed them to know that it was Itachi Uchiha that slaughtered the Uchiha clan. Even though he had addressed the possibility of failure with the Hokage, he knew that with his evolved Sharingan he would not fail. He would kill them all and then he would run. He would keep running for the rest of his life, sacrificing his freedom and his happiness to make sure that his clan died with honor at least instead of as the traitors he knew they really were.

Itachi tossed the mask aside, not really caring where it fell before picking up his sword. It was a fairly standard ninjato, but like his mask it had served him well for years now and he wanted to bring it with him. He quickly and expertly strapped it to his back, adjusting it slightly before walking out the door of the shrine he had been preparing in. It seemed fitting to him that he would prepare for his clans extinction in the clans secret gathering place, the same place where they had planned the destruction of the Leaf Village. Stepping into the cool night air, he looked up at the full moon, taking one last deep breath to compose himself before vanishing toward the Uchiha complex.

At least, that had been the idea. Before he could move, before he could even let out the breath he had been holding, a sharp, searing pain shot through his body. A hand reached around from behind him, gripping his mouth, holding back his cry of surprise and agony. His brain registered that he wasn't hit in a vital spot, but the pain was intense and it took most of his training to keep from blacking out. He tried to turn to see his attacker, but the hand across his face prevented him from doing so. A second later, the attacker identified himself when he whispered into Itachi's ear.

"Sorry Itachi, but I can't let you do this," said Konpaku, twisting the dagger slightly in his friends back. "I know you want the clans honor to remain intact, and this way, it will, but you won't have to suffer for it. Now, I'm going to move my hand, but you have to promise not to scream, okay?"

Itachi nodded a little before the hand came off his mouth. "W-why are you doing this?"

Konpaku smiled a little, even though he knew Itachi couldn't see him. "I told you already, I can't let you ruin your whole life just to save the reputation of your clan. But don't worry, I'm not going to tell if you won't. Tonight, the Uchiha clan will meet a mysterious fate. No one will ever know exactly what happened, but you at least will have one hell of an alibi. If you say that it was me, then people will want to know why and then your clans honor will be ruined. Don't worry though, I won't leave any evidence that it was me. Now then, before I go, any requests?"

Itachi tried to move his legs, tried to do something, but the attack from behind had hit a pressure point and his legs felt numb and heavy. "Please, spare my brother. He's innocent in all of this, he doesn't know about the clans plan. I was going to leave him as the only witness to my crime, so please, don't kill him."

Konpaku nodded softly. "It'll make things a little more difficult, but consider it done. Now then, all I need are some of your kunai, and we'll be all set." He reached into Itachi's pouch, pulling out two kunai before gently laying Itachi on the ground. "I can't exactly kill the whole clan with my own weapons, they're a little too distinctive in a ninja village. And since you're the only person who knows my fighting style, no one else in the whole village will know it was me. I know that anbu patrols don't usually come by the Uchiha clan since they're the police force, but luckily for you this shrine is right on the boarder. If you manage to crawl a few blocks away, you should be found and taken to the hospital and by that time, my job will be done." With all that said, Konpaku vanished, leaving a stunned and bleeding Itachi to start his crawl toward the center of town.

…...

By the next morning, the news had swept the village. The elite Uchiha clan was massacred, the Uchiha prodigy was in the hospital badly wounded and even his younger brother had been injured, though he would survive. It was a terrible shock to the villagers as most of them worried for their own safety. If the Uchiha clan could be wiped out in a night by some mysterious enemy, then how could they know for certain that they were not in danger. The Hokage had tried to help placate the fears of the people, announcing that the incident was being investigated by the very best, but everyone knew that the very best investigators in the village were laying on cold slabs in the morgue awaiting autopsy. So far, the only thing certain was that every victim had died of precise and almost instantly fatal kunai wounds. Even the Uchiha brothers were unable to testify about what had happened as they were both still unconscious. As the months rolled on and no new developments had been made, the people slowly forgot their fears and eventually life returned to normal in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

And cut. So, once again, thins are starting to diverge even more from the original. For those who were concerned about the NaruHina stuff happening too fast, no need to worry about that. Even if Naruto is a tinny bit smarter than before, that's only because he's actually got someone paying attention to him. He's still an oblivious idiot, as you will start to see in the next chapter. Until then, hope you've enjoyed it.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Naruto or anything else that is copyrighted already. I'm not rich and I am sad every day because of it.

* * *

Chapter 5

4 years later

Naruto was running down the street as fast as he could. His face had a look of barely concealed panic on it as his arms pumped to help him gain that bit of extra speed he needed. Nearing a corner, he grabbed the edge of the building, pumping chakra into his hand to give him enough strength to hold on through the sudden turn. He smiled as he saw his destination come into view. He knew if he could just get there he would be safe. With one last intense, focused sprint, he leapt forward, flying through the air, aiming for an open window as he tucked and rolled right on top of a desk, scaring three other academy students almost into fainting, before his feet deftly landed on the floor, legs tucked to take the impact mere seconds before the tardy bell rang.

"Phew, that was a close one," said Naruto, smiling his usual wide smile that seemed to take up most of his face.

"Naruto, you idiot!" screamed one of the students that had almost been sent tumbling backwards by his surprise entrance. She pushed her hair back into place, tucking some of it under the red ribbon that held back her pink strands. "You nearly scared me to death coming into the room like that."

Naruto just shot her a grin by way of apology. "Sorry Sakura, but I was worried I would miss the final test. I stayed up all night studying for it and sort of slept in late."

In the back row of the class, another young girl was watching Naruto with relief. She had been concerned when he hadn't seen him in his usual spot and had been a few moments away from going and looking for him before she spotted him running toward the academy with her Byakugan. "_I'm glad you made it, Naruto,"_ she thought to herself, blushing ever so slightly as she watched the grinning face of her long time crush. She was hoping beyond hope that they would both pass and be put on the same genin team together. She had tried her best to get to know him in the academy, but he always seemed so aloof when it came to deep friendships. He always seemed to have a smile and a laugh ready for anyone, he was always willing to play games, always ready to go along with what anyone else wanted to do. In some ways, he was the perfect friend, always ready for fun and always ready to go with the flow, but he didn't take the initiative to start a game or even talk about himself. He was always willing to listen, but when the subject changed to him, he just seemed to withdraw.

Naruto went to his seat, still a little out of breath from the death sprint that he had forced on himself to get here in time. He had been studying and training all night long and was pretty confident in his skills. As long as the jutsu part of the exam wasn't the clone jutsu, he was sure he could pass.

Just then their teachers walked into the room. One was a man with dark hair and a scar across the bridge of his nose, the other was a man with light bluish hair and a bandanna style headband. The dark haired one stood in front of the class and everyone quieted down to hear what he was going to say.

"Welcome to the genin exams, everyone," said Iruka, looking across the faces of the eager ninja trainees. He saw some who were completely confident, others who were nervous, even a few that looked totally bored. He couldn't help but wonder who would pass and who would fail, though in his heart he hoped that all of them passed, both to fulfill their dreams and vindicate himself as a teacher. "Today you'll be tested to see if you have what it takes to possibly be a ninja. This is the first step away from learning about being a ninja toward actually living it. Now then, we'll start with the written test."

Naruto forced himself to focus. He already knew that aside from the clone jutsu, the written work was where he was weakest. He would have to do at least halfway decent to even have a chance later on. He knew that no matter how good you did on the other parts of the test, if you failed any one part, you were immediately disqualified. He had already tried last year and failed the written portion, so he had spent a lot of time getting ready for this part specifically.

Hinata felt perfectly confident about this part of the exam. In fact, there was no one part of the exam that really worried her. The only reason she hadn't taken the exam last year was because her family status was still being determined. If she had been chosen as the clan heir, then she would have been trained at home in private and never would have bothered to take the exam. Instead, her father had chosen her sister as the favorite for title of heir and had sent Hinata to the academy to become a ninja in the normal ranks. While it didn't exactly disqualify her from being heir, it was obvious that her father didn't favor her for the position and to the elders of the clan it would weaken her claim. So if she wanted to prove herself worthy to be clan heir, then she had to do well on the genin exam and on her missions.

After exactly one hour for the written test, Iruka took the students outside for the target portion of the test while the other teacher, Mizuki, stayed inside to grade the written tests. As usual, Sasuke Uchiha managed to get a perfect score on the target, even going so far as to throw all the kunai and shuriken at the same time in a subtle attempt to show off. The self confident smirk never left his face during the whole test. He knew that he was going to pass, after all, he had his brother, the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, training him at home. It just wasn't possible for him to fail since he was an Uchiha, the best of the best.

Naruto felt his temper rising as he watched the Uchiha show off. It seemed that the taller, dark haired boy always had to show off and prove how much better he was than everyone else. It wouldn't have been so bad if Naruto hadn't wanted to prove that he was better too, thus causing a certain amount of rivalry between the two of them. So far it had been a silent rivalry, but with each stunt Sasuke pulled to prove himself superior, that rivalry started to get just a little bit louder. Naruto managed to pull himself together though and still score well, not anything spectacular, but it was good enough to pass and for Naruto, that was fine for now. As much as he wanted to show up Sasuke, he didn't want to risk his shot at being a ninja by doing something stupid and failing this part of the exam.

Inside the classroom, Mizuki had reached Naruto's paper. Looking it over and checking the scores, he noticed with a small frown that Naruto had actually passed this time around. He hated Naruto with a passion and wanted nothing more than to make sure he never became a ninja. He had even managed to arrange for Naruto to fail last years graduation test, subtly switching out the boys real test paper for one that he had covered with a mild genjutsu to mix up the order of the questions. Not too many of course or Iruka would have noticed, that stupid demon lover, but enough to make sure that Naruto was just short of passing. This year though, Mizuki would have to come up with something else to make sure Naruto failed, since he was pretty sure he couldn't pull the same trick twice and get away with it.

Outside, Naruto cheered loudly as Sakura nailed the target with sixteen out of the twenty weapons she was given to throw. So far she had the best score for the girls, but not all of them had thrown yet and up next was Hinata. "You can do it Hinata!" yelled Naruto, not even noticing the blush he was causing on the young girls cheeks. She shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts so that she could focus on the task at hand. Before taking the weapons to throw, she had an idea and activated her Byakugan with a few hand signs. Now everything was very clear, but the she suddenly noticed that with her eyes activated, she could see everyone looking at her. It was a crushing feeling, all eyes were on her, everyone was waiting to see what she could do and she could feel the pressure weighing down on her. She kept telling herself that there was no pressure, that she was just imagining it, but being able to see all those eyes on her was causing her to crack.

All those eyes except for one pair, a pair of bright blue eyes that seemed to smile at her just with the sparkle in them. His words of encouragement came back to her and this time instead of causing embarrassment, she felt new conviction. She was going to become a ninja, she was going to become strong, she would make herself into someone that Naruto could trust, no matter what it took. She forced her 360 degree vision to focus on just two points, the target and Naruto's smiling face. Drawing stability and courage from one point while focusing that courage on the other point, she picked the offered kunai and shuriken, first throwing all the kunai at once, then all the shuriken a few seconds behind them. Her eyes gave her near perfect accuracy, the focus and the clarity amazing her every time she used them. With a loud sound of impact into wood, the metal weapons imbedded themselves into the target for a score of nineteen out of twenty.

"Woohoo! That was amazing Hinata, you did even better than Sakura," yelled Naruto, practically jumping in the air as he shouted. He was of course oblivious to the blush on one girls face and the angry look on the other girls face.

"Can it, Naruto!" screamed Sakura, taking the opportunity to smack him on the back of the head, knocking him forward into the ground. "Do you always have to scream every time you open your mouth? It's so annoying!"

Only a small whimper of pain came from Naruto as he slowly picked himself up off the ground. "S-Sakura," he whimpered sadly, but the pink haired girl had already stormed off to talk to Sasuke about how annoying Naruto was, hoping that this topic of mutual agreement would get him to talk to her. Sasuke wasn't looking at Sakura however, but instead watching Hinata. He was fairly impressed by her throw and already liked her better than any of the other girls in the class just because she stayed away from him and didn't act like an overgrown leech always trying to latch onto him. If only she wasn't a Hyuuga, he might actually consider asking her out, but the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans had been rivals for so long, both with bloodline traits that centered in the eyes, it would take more than just a passing whim to cause him to brave that territory. Though looking at his other options in helping him rebuild the Uchiha clan, he might eventually become that desperate.

Once the outdoors part of the exam had finally been completed, it came time for the last part, the Jutsu exam. Naruto was already sweating bullets, just begging whatever spirits were listening that it wouldn't be the clone jutsu. After everyone had taken their seats, they waited breathlessly as Iruka slowly lifted the clipboard, flipping a few papers back, seeming to take forever to the nervous students.

"Alright class, it's time for the final part of the Genin Exams. The final test will be on…..the clone jutsu."

Instantly Naruto felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. That was his worse technique and he knew it. He had spent all night trying, pouring more and more chakra into the technique each time until he had passed out from exhaustion and it had done nothing. His clones still looked as deformed and sickly as ever and he knew that wasn't going to cut it for this exam. He would just have to try his best and hope that everything worked out.

From the back row, Hinata could see that Naruto was shaking slightly. She wasn't sure if it was fear, excitement or anticipation, but she certainly hoped that he would pass. All she wanted was to be near him and if she passed and he didn't, then they would be separated for at least a year, and that's if they even allowed him to remain at the academy. No one had ever tried the exam a fourth time, most having quit after their second try, and the rest deciding they just weren't cut out for the life of a ninja after their third failed attempt. Hinata wasn't even sure if it was allowed to try a fourth time since it had never been done before.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you're up," said Iruka from the doorway leading into the adjoining room where the final test was held. Naruto stood up and almost ran down the stairs, his nervous energy overflowing from him as he got closer and closer to that final test. On the other side of the room, Mizuki and Iruka sat at a table filled with ninja forehead protectors, the official symbol of true ninja status. Naruto looked at them all longingly before focusing himself, swearing he wasn't going to fail this time, even if it killed him.

"Okay Naruto, please perform the clone jutsu as best you can," said Mizuki, watching the young student closely for anything he could fail him on. He just needed the slightest mistake that he could compound and then Naruto would be out of his hair for good.

Naruto nodded and placed his hands into the single hand sign of the clone jutsu. He focused as hard as he could, building up so much chakra he could actually feel it overflowing his body. Finally, when he felt like he'd summoned as much chakra as he could, he shouted the name of the technique as he released all the stored up energy into the hand sign. "Clone jutsu!"

A huge explosion of smoke obscured half the room, the effect of excess chakra burning off dust and such in the air. There was so much it took a few moments for the smoke to clear and when it had, the two teachers were faced with two Narutos, one still standing with his hands in the hand sign, the other laying facedown on the floor, the face a twisted mess and the whole thing pale in color, even the clothes were not the correct shade. Iruka felt his eye twitch before practically exploding.

"**YOU FAIL!**"

Inside, Mizuki was smiling wide. The nine tailed brat had saved him the trouble of making up some excuse to fail him and now he had an opportunity to get the boy on his side. "You know Iruka, he stuck with it and he did replicate and this is his third try, so you know he really wants to pass. Maybe we could give him a break?" Mizuki knew that Iruka would never let a student pass who was so terrible at such a simple jutsu, but the chance to get on the boys good side was too good to pass up.

"Mizuki, I understand what you're saying, but look at the replication, it's pitiful. I can't allow him to pass."

Naruto's face had perked up when Mizuki had spoken on his behalf, but it fell again when Iruka spoke up. He was feeling that terrible sense of failure again, the third time he'd failed this test. Walking out of the test room, he didn't even head back to the classroom, not wanting to face his classmates again. Instead, he walked outside and sat down on his favorite swing. He stayed there for hours, watching as all the other students met with their parents, showing off their shiny new forehead protectors. And that's where Mizuki found him.

…...

Konpaku was up late, working on paperwork. He didn't realize exactly how much paperwork an ambassador had to go through, though most of it came from the village council. The amount of paperwork that came from his home country was rather small, but the village council seemed to enjoy flooding his office with requests and negotiation points, technically all things that didn't really need his input, but that he was required to look over before sending on to his country. Looking over another request to the government of Hyrule for possible trade of iron ore, Konpaku was about to fall asleep when a knock on his office door roused him.

"Come in," he said, silently thanking the goddesses for the distraction.

The door opened and one of the civilian staff that had been assigned to his embassy stepped in. Konpaku was somewhat worried that these civilians were actually spies, but he had no way of knowing and nothing he could prove. "Sir, there's an Iruka Umino at the door for you."

"Thank you, please let him in, I'll meet him in the parlor."

The staff member nodded and left while Konpaku arranged some of the papers on his desk, making sure everything was where he could find it before walking down the stairs and entering the parlor. He instantly knew something was wrong when he noticed that Iruka was still standing and there was no tea on the table. Usually when it wasn't urgent, the staff would deliver some light snacks and the guest would get comfortable while waiting.

"Mr. Ambassador, thank you for seeing me so late, but it's Naruto, he's stolen the Scroll of Sealing. I was hoping you could help me find him."

Konpaku was shocked to say the least. Despite the fact that he was an outsider, he knew about the Scroll of Sealing, even though he had never been allowed to see it. Even it's location was a B-class secret, meaning only Chunin or higher should even know where it is. He wondered for a moment how Naruto even knew where the scroll was, but for now the more important thing was to find Naruto before something bad happened.

"Come with me Iruka, I know a few places that Naruto goes when he's troubled."

As they both ran out of the embassy, Konpaku started off toward the mountain behind the hokage faces. Iruka was keeping up with him, so he turned up the speed a little, hoping that he could find Naruto soon. "Iruka, is there a reason that Naruto would take the scroll?"

Iruka looked a little sad for a moment before responding. "He failed the Genin exam again for the third time today. He might have taken the scroll in order to become strong enough to pass the exam."

"No, that doesn't sound like Naruto at all," said Konpaku, frowning slightly. "I've trained with Naruto for years, he's not like that at all. When he fails, he doesn't try to find shortcuts to power, he just tries harder the next time. Besides, how would he even know where to find the scroll?"

Iruka just shook his head. "I have no idea. All I know is, if other villages figure out that we've lost the scroll, then Naruto will be targeted by foreign ninja. He can't handle something like that; we've got to find him first."

Konpaku nodded and decided to stop holding back, whether Iruka could keep up or not. He rushed forward, moving as fast as he could and he was grateful to see that Iruka had been holding back also. Together they rushed toward the top of the Hokage monument.

…...

Mizuki was very frustrated at this point. He had planned to meet up with Naruto by this point and be out of the village, but his assigned search area was on the opposite side of town. He had to search it fast, then find some excuse to meet up with Naruto at the shack in the woods before anyone else found him. Having gone through all this trouble, it would be a real problem for him if Naruto was found and blabbed about his involvement.

Mizuki leapt from branch to branch, just casually looking around to appear like he was searching, but instead thinking over and over again about what was going to happen after he got the scroll and took care of Naruto. He would have to run from the village of course, but he knew where he could go. He would find Orochimaru, one of the three legendary ninja, and offer the scroll to him as a gift. Once that was done, Orochimaru would give him the power that he had promised and he would come back and crush this village. Honestly, this village sickened him. It's people were so caught up in ideas like loyalty and self sacrifice that they completely overlooked his power. He knew he was strong, he deserved better than to be some lowly chunin babysitting brats everyday. He deserved to be a jonin at least, if not even higher someday. He had completed every mission assigned to him, regardless of what or who he had to sacrifice, and if doing all of that for the sake of the village wasn't enough to earn him respect, then he would rather watch this village burn than stay here any longer. But first, he had one last thing to take care of. That little demon brat Naruto would have to suffer. Something about him, the way he acted like he was a normal child, irked Mizuki. He knew what he really was, he knew that the demon had really taken over Naruto's body and was just waiting, biding it's time before it struck and the fact that it was just waiting there, acting so innocent and carefree was infuriating. Yes, he would make sure that demon paid before he left the village and who knows, perhaps that would make him popular enough that when he did return, people would finally acknowledge his strength.

Mizuki glanced at his watch, figuring the time he'd been searching against how long it would take him to reach Naruto and he figured he should give it another few minutes before declaring that Naruto wasn't in his section. If he finished too early, people might get suspicious and he couldn't have that happening, not until they found the demons cold, dead corpse. That thought alone was enough to bring a smile to Mizuki's face as he continued to leap from tree to tree.

…...

Naruto was bored. There was no other way to say it, he was bored out of his skull. He'd been waiting for half an hour already for Mizuki to show up, but to Naruto it seemed more like an eternity. He has spent some time practicing a jutsu from the scroll, but he had already mastered it pretty easily. He looked at a few others, but the warnings on most of them were enough to make him more than a little nervous. Sure the Shadow Clone jutsu had a warning too, but he'd had chakra exhaustion before and walked away from it. He didn't think he would be so lucky if he accidentally blew off an arm with a wind jutsu or burned himself to a crisp with some of the fire jutsu in the scroll. Mizuki had told him he only needed to learn one jutsu from the scroll, so the Shadow Clone jutsu would be enough for now. Though he'd definitely have to learn how to do that whole elemental chakra thing later when he was officially a genin.

He was just getting ready to start practicing some more when he heard a rustle in the trees. Konpaku had taken a lot of time to teach him how to tell exactly where noises were coming from even if he couldn't see the source, so he was able to turn and meet both Iruka and Konpaku as they emerged from the tree cover.

"Oh, hey Iruka, hey Konny, what are you two doing here?" asked Naruto.

Konpaku wanted to bop Naruto over the head for that stupid nickname, but now wasn't the time. "We're looking for you, Naruto. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

For his part, Naruto just looked annoyed. "Hey, I've been waiting over half an hour here. If Mizuki had shown up when he said he would, then I would have been able to return the scroll on time."

Iruka suddenly took an interest in the conversation. "What do you saying about Mizuki?"

Naruto gave a barely concealed sigh before answering. "He told me all about the special extra test I could take to pass and become a genin, then he's late to see my new jutsu and collect the scroll."

Konpaku didn't know anything about how the genin exams for the academy worked, but based on Iruka's reaction to Naruto's simple and honest statement, there was no special extra test. He immediately started looking around the clearing, looking for any extra shadows or movement. He tuned out Naruto and Iruka as they argued in the background, forcing himself to concentrate on what might lay outside the small clearing.

"Konpaku, I'm taking Naruto straight to the Hokage," said Iruka, laying a hand on his shoulder. "If Mizuki has betrayed the Leaf Village, then he needs to be exposed quickly so we can capture him."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," said Konpaku, his eyes locking on one shadow that was just a little too solid for the tree cover it was in. "He's already found us."

No sooner had he spoken than a huge throwing star came flying out of the trees at the group. Konpaku knew he could dodge it, and he was certain that Iruka could dodge it too, but with Naruto confused about the whole situation and caught by surprise, he wasn't sure that the boy would be able to get out of the way in time. In one quick movement, he reached behind his back, unhooking the strap that kept his sword in place before catching it with his other hand, flipping it down and under his armpit by the hilt before deflecting the large spinning blade up and into the canopy. A few leaves and branches fell from above, but the star had been successfully diverted from it's targets.

"Well well, that wasn't bad for someone who's had no ninja training," came a voice from the canopy. The shadow dropped from the branches and Mizuki became visible as he stepped into the clearing. "Actually, it's impressive that you managed to beat me here at all. You must be pretty fast for a politician."

Konpaku kept his face emotionless, an impenetrable mask to hide his true feelings. He held his sword ready in front of him, not making a move yet because he didn't want to leave Naruto or Iruka unguarded.

Iruka, on the other hand, didn't even try to hide his emotions. "Mizuki, I can't believe that you would betray your comrades like this. How could you do it? And why would you include poor Naruto in your plot?"

The look on Mizuki's face was one of pure poison. "Please, how can you possibly talk about that stupid demon fox like it's some sort of helpless child?"

Konpaku just smirked. "Well, you have it half right. He is a child, but he's anything but helpless." Konpaku relaxed his stance just enough to pull his belt off with one hand. With the daggers still attached, he tossed it behind him toward where Naruto was standing. "Naruto, I had intended to give these to you when you graduated, but it looks like now is a much better time. Let's show this bastard what you're made of."

"Oh please, there's no way an academy student is going to be able to beat me. I could totally destroy him in a single move," said Mizuki, pulling his other large throwing star from behind his back.

"You know something Mizuki, you really need to make up your mind. Is Naruto the fearsome and terrible nine tailed fox or is he a helpless academy student who can't even touch you? The way you keep blathering on like an idiot just proves how delusional and twisted you are. Oh, and one other thing. While you've been chatting and arguing with me, what do you think Naruto has been up to?"

Mizuki's eyes went wide for a moment as he suddenly started looking around the clearing. Even Iruka was a little shocked when he looked behind him and noticed that both Naruto and the daggers were gone. A creepy silence settled over the clearing as both academy teachers looked around the clearing, trying to find the boy who had seemingly vanished into the shadows.

For a few seconds, everyone waited, expecting something to happen. Then, there was a rustle in the branches above Mizuki. Everyone looked up to see Naruto dropping from the canopy, both daggers in his hands as he descended for the kill shot. Mizuki just grinned, lifting his throwing star above his head to use as a shield.

"Ha, you think you can sneak up on me that easily? You're as hopeless as ever, Naruto," said Mizuki. His smile suddenly faded as Naruto hit the blade on the throwing star and suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Before he had time to get over his shock, a second Naruto leapt from the bushes behind Mizuki, daggers still in his hand as he shoved them forward, slicing the back of Mizuki's knees and cutting the tendons there. Mizuki screamed as he collapsed onto the ground, Konpaku moving to knock away his throwing star and make sure Mizuki didn't try anything else.

"Well done, Naruto," said Konpaku, smiling at the boy as he tied the traitors hands behind his back. "Excellent use of a diversion."

Naruto just smiled and rubbed the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Well, I knew I couldn't sneak up on him like you could, Konny, so I decided to distract him instead."

Iruka watched the whole scene, stunned at what he had just witnessed. "Naruto, that was amazing. I can't believe you learned the shadow clone jutsu in such a short amount of time." Iruka watched as Naruto just basked in the praise. Iruka knew what he would have to do now, and he was going to be happy to do it. He walked up to Naruto, taking off his own forehead protector as he went, before placing it around the surprised Naruto's head. "Congratulations Naruto, you graduate."

* * *

Okay, so finally reaching the events of the actual Anime. Yes, I know that some of the things in here are very much like canon, but I have stated that I want simply improve on the original idea (or what I view as an improvement, I'm sure the original author/creator would have something to say about that). So yes, small changes add up to big ones, or at least that's the plan. Hopefully you like it, I crave reviews and ideas. I also crave chocolate, but I'm pretty sure there isn't anything you can do about that, so just give reviews and I'll be happy.


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